Harry Potter and the Magic of the Elders of the Universe Pt 4
by jjslll54
Summary: This is part 4 of my series. There is a lot of science fiction and magic intermixed in this one. The Elders start doing their job of reforming the Earth and bringing it into the future. Don't worry, the tournament still happens so you will get to see how the Elders deal with it. Standard disclaimer applies.
1. Chapter 1

**Harry Potter and the Magic of the Elders of the Universe; Part four.**

(AN) This is a continuation of my saga and is loosely based on book four of the series. Keep in mind this story is very AU and has a lot of science fiction to go along with the magic. I hope to make it interesting for fans of both genres. Also keep in mind the reason the Elders are on Earth to begin with.

To my readers of the Muslim faith: I have references to a mosque and a few other things in this chapter. I have kept everything as generic as I could with no names mentioned. I hope I got what terminology I used correct and apologize in advance if I messed up. Send me a PM if any corrections are needed and I will fix it.

As usual; I write for my own entertainment and that of others. I do not own the Harry Potter universe, the DC Comics Universe, the Star Wars Universe or any other universe. I do not make any money from this as it is strictly fan-fiction only. With all of that said; on with the story.

**Chapter 41: A Family Reunited and the Righting of a Great Wrong.**

School lets out for the final day of third year and the student's board the carriages for the ride to the train station in Hogsmead. The study group finds a compartment and settles in for the ride to London.

"What are everyone's plans for the summer," Hermione asks to get the conversation started?

"Hannah and I just usually hang out with each other and going to the beach," Susan answers while Hannah nods in agreement," Not real exciting but it passes the time pleasantly enough."

"Dad's trying to get tickets for the Quidditch World Cup," Ron volunteers," It's being played in England this year. Too bad The England Nationals didn't make it."

"Tell your dad it is all taken care of," Harry says," Because of Hermione and my status we have reserve seats in the Minister's booth. The booth has been expanded to accommodate all of Phoenix house and their families, along with whoever the Minister invites."

"Cool," Ron and Ginny say together as they are huge Quidditch fans.

"Thank you for inviting us," Draco adds for him and Pansy.

"You're welcome," Harry says," What about you Luna?"

"Well, since we won the House Cup this year," She says in her high voice," My dad and I are going camping in Switzerland as a reward. We should be back in time for the Cup though."

"Luna, school records showed us you contributed the most of anyone in your house. You also won the most points for any individual, ever," Hermione says, "You earned it. Enjoy your trip."

"Only because you and Harry dropped out of the point race," Luna says shyly.

"Since we own the school," Hermione explains," we decided it would be an unfair advantage if we won all the time. We realized that at the end of last year. Hufflepuff still came in a respectable second place, even without our help."

Luna nods and gets out her Quibbler and starts reading it upside down, trying to work the magical puzzle included in every issue.

"Tracey and I hang out together also," Daphne starts back up again, "But my parents are taking Astoria and me for a cruise on the Mediterranean as soon as we get home. We'll be back in time for the Wizengamot summer session. We plan to be at the Cup too."

"That's great Daph," Hermione answers," see you at the session. What about you Nev?"

"I'm not sure," he answers," My Gran wouldn't say anything. She did say it was going to be a surprise though. I hope it's a new greenhouse. My old one is getting full."

Harry and Hermione look at each other and smile.

"Umm,"is all they would say.

The trip progresses quietly for the next thirty minutes as everyone has taken something out to read. Neville is watching his friends sit there with that smile on their faces as they cuddle together. He gets more and more suspicious of their smug looks and he finally can't take it anymore.

"You know something," he accuses.

"We know a lot of things Neville," Hermione says with a smirk," To what would you be referring?"

"You two are sitting there with that silly grin on your faces and you keep glancing at me and then each other," He says," You're not trying very hard to hide it."

"Okay, you caught us out," Harry says," We can't tell you, but we know you will like it very much."

Neville just sits back in his seat with his arms crossed, disappointed he didn't find out what the surprise is and now can't wait to get home. The rest of the trip flies by uneventfully and soon the train pulls into King's Cross Station. The youthful passengers exit the train in a somewhat orderly manner to go in search of their families. Harry and Hermione step off their train carriage with Neville right behind. After stepping down onto the platform; Neville looks up to see two people standing with his Grandmother.

His eyes get wide and tears start to flow," MUM, DAD," he yells dropping his trunk and racing up to them. They sweep him up in a hug and everyone is crying tears of happiness at being reunited. Neville then remembers his suspicion from earlier on the train, along with a certain two people that were absent for too long on the train ride before this one.

"Wait a minute," He says and runs off yelling over his shoulder," I'll be right back."

Harry and Hermione are standing on the platform leaning against each other, watching the reunion with smiles of contentment on their faces. They spot Neville running towards them and straighten up as he approaches.

"You did this, didn't you," Neville says with tears still flowing and throwing his arms around them hugging them for all he is worth.

"Thank you Elders," he says," you were right. This is the best surprise in the world."

"We're happy for you Neville," Hermione says with a few tears of her own, thinking about her husband standing next to her. She snuggles into Harry's side knowing this is something he will never be able to experience.

"Come and meet them Elders," Neville says grabbing a hand each, pulling them along.

The Longbottoms watch as Neville runs over to a pair of students and throws his arms around them.

"He obviously has friends," Alice comments with a smile.

Franks nods agreement and puts his arm around his wife. They watch as Neville grabs his friend's hands and starts dragging them over in his enthusiasm. His friend's just smile at Neville while walking behind him in a normal manner, allowing him to pull them along. The trio soon arrives at the Longbottom's location.

"Mum, Dad," Neville says to his parents," I would like to introduce you to my best friends. This is Lord and Lady Potter. They are the Elders I told you about Gran."

Augusta Longbottom loses a bit of her dignity when the tears start flowing from her eyes as she realizes these are the two that healed her son and daughter-in-law. She walks over to them and hugs them both.

"I can't thank you enough for giving my Neville his parents back," she says," the Longbottom's owe you a debt that can never be repaid."

"No payment is necessary," Harry says," seeing Neville happy is payment enough. We would have helped sooner if we had known."

Alice is standing there smiling at her sons antics as he drags the couple toward her. When she finally sees who Neville is dragging behind him she can't take her eyes off of Harry.

"Harry," she says in surprise," little Harry?"

Harry looks over at Alice and recognition hits him as his probes show him a memory from when he was a baby.

"I know you," Harry says," I thought I recognized you in the hospital but it didn't connect then."

"I'm Alice Longbottom, your godmother," she introduces herself.

He gives her a hug and says," Then you need to meet our parents. You're family after all."

Harry and Hermione lead them though the barrier to find the Granger's who are waiting patiently.

The Grangers are standing off to the side, out of the way of the large crowds that populate King's Cross this time of day. They are watching the wall between platforms nine and ten, amazed as always how witches and wizards come and go while the crowd at the station doesn't seem to notice at all. They perk up when they spot Harry and Hermione leading four other people through the barrier towards them.

"Mum, Dad," Harry says," This is Neville Longbottom and his parents, Lord and Lady Longbottom and his Grandmother, Madam Longbottom."

"Neville is in our study group and one of our best friends at school," Hermione adds.

"Drs. George and Helen Granger," Mr. Granger says shaking each of their hands.

"Mum and dad," Harry says after the introductions are done," I just found out Neville's mother is my godmother."

"Then that makes her family, doesn't it," Mrs. Granger says with a smile," It makes all of you family. Why don't we all have dinner at our house and get to know each other."

"Get Jeeves to take the Rolls home and Hermione and I will get us there as a group." Harry suggests.

"Alright Harry," Mr. Granger agrees.

He walks the short distance to where the car is parked and gives Jeeves his instructions. Jeeves agrees and drives off in the car.

"Jeeves says he will meet us there," Mr. Granger informs them when he returns.

Harry leads the group to a secluded area away from the crowded station.

"Everyone, form a circle and hold hands," Harry instructs.

"What are you going to do Harry," Frank asks?

"Hermione and I are going to phase you to our home," he answers.

"Don't worry," Mrs. Granger says by way of assurance," They are very good at it."

The group forms a circle with Harry and Hermione on opposite ends. Everyone takes a hand and the Potter's phase the group to the entrance area of the Granger's home.

"That wasn't apparition," Frank comments.

"So that's what it feels like when you do that," Neville says.

"We call it phasing," Harry says answering Franks comment.

"It is certainly more pleasant than apparition," Augusta adds," I don't suppose you can teach up that?"

"Sorry," Hermione says," It is unique to Harry and I because of our status as Elders and our DNA makeup."

The Granger's lead everyone into the sitting room with Jeeves following with a teapot, cups and saucers on a tray. He sets the tray on the settee table and serves everyone.

"Welcome home Lord and Lady," he says with a bow as he finishes.

"Thank you Jeeves," Hermione says.

Jeeves walks out of the room to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the group.

"Was that an elf," Alice asks?

"Yes," Hermione says snuggling up to Harry," Jeeves used to be a house elf until we freed him and re-bonded as family. Harry figured out how to free the elves from the curse put on them a thousand years ago."

Harry and Hermione take turns explaining to the Longbottoms about their status and why they are there. Harry conjures watches for the adult Longbottoms and adds a family status face to Nevilles watch.

"Now you can talk to your parents anytime Neville," Harry says," Even while you are at school."

"Thank you Harry, you're the best."

The kids fill their parents in on happenings at school while waiting on dinner and soon Jeeves walks in and announces:

"Dinner is served."

The group makes their way into the dining room and takes their seats where Jeeves serves everyone and then takes his place at the table to the Longbottom's surprise. Hermione reiterates that he is part of the Potter family and eats with them all the time. He even contributes to the conversation by educating the Longbottom's on the elfish way of life. When everyone is done eating, the group retires back to the sitting room where brandy for the adults and juice for the children is served. After serving them Jeeves returns to the dining room where with a snap of his fingers the table is cleared and the dishes start cleaning themselves in the kitchen. If one was to look into the kitchen right then, they would see an assembly line of dishes being washed, dried and put away.

"We need to set you up with a floo connection so we can visit back and forth," Augusta says to the Grangers," It will also allow you two to get around in the magical world while Harry and Hermione are in school."

"We didn't think about that," Hermione says to her parents," Now that mum has her magic back, she can take dad through the floo with her. You can come to our school whenever you want to see us or go anywhere there is a floo you have the password to."

Helen Granger is happy to hear this and hugs her children while thanking Augusta for the suggestion. Augusta says that she will attend to it the next day at the ministry. After another hour of visiting the Longbottoms gather together where Frank makes a port key to their home and after thanking their hosts for a pleasant evening, vanish in a flash of light. With goodnight kisses from their parents, the teenagers retire for the evening.

The next few days pass quietly as the family re-bonds after being separated with the children at school.

/

**June 27****th****, 1994**

Mrs. Granger wakes up that morning to a humming sound. She keeps swatting at her ear trying to chase the perceived insect away. When that doesn't work she sits up in bed to listen.

"Huuummm, chiiii, chi chi chi chiiiiiiii," she hears. She turns to her husband and shakes him.

"George, wake up," she whispers urgently.

He turns groggily to his wife," waas up?"

"Listen," she says.

"Huuummm, Huumm, chiiii, chi chi chi chiiiiiiii," they both hear.

"What is that," he asks, looking at his wife?

They get up and put their dressing gowns on, then follow the sound down to their basement. When they open the door they both see a sight they never thought they would ever see in real life. Harry and Hermione are standing there in their training clothes with light sabers in their hands sparring with each other. The action is so fast and furious, the Grangers can barely follow the light of the sabers as they swing. Hermione forces Harry to retreat toward a nearby support pillar with her flurry of attacks. She swings at Harry and he deflects her saber with a block of his own and she accidently slices through the support pillar.

"Ops," she says and with a quick, "Reparo," continues the fight.

After another ten minutes of this the couple finally notices the Granger's standing there with their moths open. They salute to each other, stand up and deactivate their sabers and place them back at their belt hooks.

"That was exhilarating Harry," Hermione says," Best workout in a while."

"Yea, "he agrees, "I think we might have scared our parents though."

Mrs. Granger is nodding vigorously in agreement," That looked very dangerous; especially when you cut through that pillar."

"It's not dangerous to us mum," Hermione says while igniting her saber. She runs her finger along the blade to show it won't hurt her and when Mrs. Granger reaches out she moves it away quickly and deactivates it.

She reattaches her saber to her belt and says," It's not dangerous to Harry and me but it will do everything you saw light sabers do in the movies and more."

"So Star Wars is real," Mr. Granger asks?

"Somewhat," Hermione says," The movies are a dramatization of events that happened in the Leggit Galaxy a thousand years ago. Alderaan didn't get destroyed by the Death Star like in the movie because we were there to prevent it. The Emperor was destroyed the next day. 'Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi' never happened. Darth Vader was redeemed and reverted to his real name of Anakin Skywalker where he helped his children Luke and Leia rebuild the galaxy to become what it is today. We suspect George Lucas, or one of his ancestors, is from that galaxy and used the legend to make the films."

"That was the mission you went on during the spring holiday," Mrs. Grangers says in understanding.

"Yes mum," Hermione answers," we didn't tell you because we didn't think you would believe such a story, even from us."

"Why weren't you mentioned in the movies," Mr. Granger asks?

"Well," Hermione pauses while thinking," The truth wouldn't make a very exciting story for the people of Earth. We tend to want to see a story drawn out with lots of action and adventure. We want to see the heroes struggle to reach their goals and then get the satisfaction of watching it happen on the screen."

Harry continues, "We did in two days what the Rebel Alliance couldn't do in the twenty years they had been fighting. For them, it was a miracle ending to their war. To us it was saving a galaxy from extinction. **That** was our mission. Palpatine was going to use bio weapons on the non-human population, not realizing he was dooming the whole galaxy to death."

"What about the light sabers," Mr. Granger asks," how did you come by those?"

"We actually stayed there for fifty years, helping with the cleanup and rebuilding. We met Yoda and he trained us to become Consular Jedi's, the diplomatic arm of the order," Hermione explains," That is why the blades are green in color."

Their conversation is interrupted by Jeeves coming down the stairs with agent Hamilton in tow. Harry and Hermione are surprised to see him.

"Agent Hamilton," Harry says," Is there something wrong?"

"After your trip to the ISS Station and helping the Russians and Americans the way you did, my bosses have decided you are mature enough to possibly help us out with a problem in the Middle East," he says while handing a folder to him.

Harry and Hermione look over the information in the folder and then look back up at them.

"We have plans to go over there this summer to poke around a bit," Harry says," Someone is stirring up the local militants into a frenzy and we want to see if we can find the cause."

"That's good to hear," Hamilton says, then starts the briefing, "This information should give you a place to start. Most of the trouble at this point is in Iraq. Their leader is a ruthless man that attacks his own people. He harbors known terrorist groups and is now threatening to build a nuclear weapon. He's already used biological weapons on his own country and was responsible for the Kuwait War. As his troops were forced to leave Kuwait by the coalition, he ordered the burning of hundreds of oil wells which spewed thousands of cubic meters of poisonous gas into the air. The man has no conscience. Our hands are tied and no country will commit to stopping him. We're hoping that with your status and abilities you can do something that we can't. He must be stopped before he can get his hands on materials for a nuclear bomb. He won't hesitate to use it."

"Very well," Harry answers grimly," It looks like the problem is worse than we thought. We will start there and scout around till we find the root cause and fix it the best we can. Tell the Prime Minister to contact the other major powers to be ready to step in to help the general population once we remove their government. Make it a UN operation so no one can point an accusing finger at any one country for our actions."

"What are you going to do," Hamilton asks?

"We won't know till we get there but you will know when it will be time to intervene," Hermione says.

"I will pass the message on," agent Hamilton says," Good luck."

After he leaves, the Grangers and Potters head back to their rooms to get cleaned up for their day. Harry and Hermione pack a trunk to take with them after they dress in their Elder/Jedi robes with the runes and head back downstairs. Harry puts the shrunken trunk in his pocket as they walk up to their parents to give them a hug before leaving.

"Your father and I know you two can take care of yourselves but please be careful," Mrs. Granger says as she hugs them.

"We will mum and dad," Harry answers for them," Our solution will be very visible to the world, so keep an eye on the telly from time to time."

With that said the pair disillusion themselves and fly out the patio doors and up into the sky towards the country of Iraq, known as the starting place for the civilized world. Since they didn't want to be picked up on anyone's radar they flew low and slow, taking about five hours to get there. They enjoyed the scenery very much on their flight. The Elders followed a flight path in to the main airport and mingled with the passengers getting off one the larger airliners. They slowly made their way out of the terminal and hired a cab to take them to a nearby hotel Mrs. Black had told them about. Their hooded cloaks drew a few looks but no one paid them any mind.

"I can feel a dark presence in the center of the city," Hermione comments as she puts her clothes away.

"That's probably the palace," Harry says," Let's take a walk in the area around the palace and spiral out from there. We can listen to the locals talk and maybe pick up on something."

Bagdad is a very large city and the Elders take their time exploring its depths. They discover there are several factions vying for power within the city with each against the other but all of them hostile towards the soldiers in the palace. As they are walking along one of the main thoroughfares, Harry and Hermione are guided by some force toward a neighborhood a few blocks ahead of them where they detect a dark presence. They duck into an alley to dissolution themselves unnoticed and take to the air. In the short time it takes to fly to the neighborhood, the presence is gone.

"_Did you feel that Harry,"_ she sends_," something guided us here."_

"_The creator must need us to be here for some reason,"_ he sends back.

"_That presence we were led to has to be a dark wizard or witch,"_ Hermione sends to Harry.

They look down and notice they are flying over a mosque. From out of the mosque walks a young couple side by side. Their gait is steady and even, perfectly in step with each other. The couple is looking straight ahead while they walk and don't say a word to each other. The Elders fly down and follow them to see where they are going and to determine what is causing their strange behavior. Up ahead is a large open air market with a lot of people shopping and bartering for goods. Hermione flies a little closer in order to see their faces.

"_Look at their eyes Harry,"_ she sends.

He joins her to have a look for himself and notices their eyes look glazed over_," They've been imperiused."_

Harry further scans their minds and discovers they each have a bomb strapped to them under their clothes. With a wave of his hand, he vanishes the bombs to the desert and detonates them harmlessly. The couple walks into the market and stops in the middle, turn to face each other and then reach into a pocket each and pull out a handle with a button on it. They push the button over and over where it makes a clicking sound but nothing else. People nearest the couple hear the clicking sound and recognize the buttons for what they are and start to panic. Harry and Hermione take that moment to reappear out of thin air and cast a calming charm on everyone with a wave of their hands.

The crowd starts to gather around after they notice the hooded couple appear out of the air like they did. Said couple is wearing a fully covering set of dark maroon robes with runes running along the edges of the cloaks and along the bottom of the skirt like section that flair out covering their feet. The robes are cinched at the waist with a wide belt where each figure has a silver cylinder hanging. A blue shield snaps into place startling the crowd a bit but they don't come any closer. A bystander pushes bravely on the shield but is gently repelled back to where he was.

"Do not be alarmed," the male hooded person calls out in Arabic," we will not harm you."

The crowd watches as the smaller hooded person waves its hand in front of the faces of the couple that is still pushing their buttons. The individuals closest can see the young couples eyes clear up. They stop pushing their buttons, look at them and drop them on the ground.

After looking around the young man asks," What are we doing here?"

"What do you remember last," The taller hooded person asks in a male's voice?

"We were at the mosque praying," He says," Today is our one year anniversary and we were praising Allah for our good fortune and happiness."

"The Creator heard your prayer and sent us to help you," the shorter hooded person states in a female voice.

The crowd gasps collectively when they hear that.

"Please, walk with us back to your mosque so that we may speak with your Imam," The female person asks kindly?

The shield comes down and the four walk back to the mosque with the crowd following. As the couple enters they remove their shoes and follow the washing ritual before going into the mosque proper to bring the Hooded Couple to the Imam. The Elders hover up a few centimeters above the floor and float into the chamber where the Imam is leading prayer service.

Harry and Hermione hover respectfully off to the side until the service is over, not touching the floor with their boots. The Imam is watching the strange hooded figures while leading the prayer service. He is relieved the young couple is okay but afraid of what the hooded couple is here for. When the service is over he beacons them forward. The pair moves over to the Imams position with a walking motion and lowers their hoods. Everyone gasps at their youthful looks, especially their lighter skin color with the brilliant green eyes of the male and the shiny brown eyes of the female. Harry and Hermione are looking the Imam and the community elders that have gathered around him over to determine if any of them is the dark presence they felt before when one of them speaks up.

"Why have you not removed your boots in respect for Allah's temple," he asks aggressively?

Harry and Hermione raise their eyebrows in surprise and rise up a few more centimeters more, while looking at the floor.

"Is this high enough?" Hermione asks in flawless Arabic," We meant no disrespect elder."

His eyes get wide when he sees what they do and says humbly," That's fine. I saw your boots and reacted. Who are you?"

"We are the Elders of the Universe," they recite together; "We are Harry and Hermione."

"We've been hunting a dark presence in the city that's been stirring up trouble," Harry says," I couldn't believe it when I read this young couple's minds and found they had a bomb each and were directed to blow themselves up in the marketplace. That would have killed them and who knows how many others."

The young man's wife faints when she hears that. Her husband catches her and lowers her to the floor where he holds onto her for dear life. Hermione floats down to a kneeling position while still off the floor and places her hand on the young woman's forehead. Her hand glows for a second and the young woman wakes up. Hermione then stands up and floats back next to her husband.

While Harry is talking, one of the men in the back of the group is slowly trying to sneak toward the back door. Faster than anyone can follow, except Harry, Hermione is on him in a flash where she lifts him off the floor and floats him to the front of the group of elders. She sets him down and freezes him in place except for his head. He looks at her very afraid.

"Going somewhere," she asks?

"That's one of the Ayatollah's men," the Imam exclaims in disgust.

"Why would you react that way to him," Harry asks," Isn't the Ayatollah your leader?

"We follow him now only because of our laws," The Imam explains," The Ayatollah used to be a good man but something happened several months ago that changed him."

"Go on," Hermione encourages him," We are here because we heard someone was stirring up trouble while using your religion as an excuse for the violence and fighting. The Creator of all things guided us to the young couple to stop the destruction they would have done if not for our presence."

"Who is this Creator," one of the elders asks?

"You call him Allah, the Christians call him God," Harry explains," Other religions have different names. All religions that believe in the one god are correct in their beliefs. The Creator just is. He is everywhere; he sees all and hears all. He had a direct hand in mine and my wife's creation. We are the Elders of the Universe. Brought to Earth to save it from itself, and to bring it forth, into the Intergalactic Community of Planets."

The men all fall to their knees at his explanation, thinking they are in the presence of holiness.

"There is no need to kneel to us," Harry says," We are merely a tool for the Creator to use as he sees fit, the same as you Imam. You were called by Allah when you were young and now you are leading a fine group of people in your calling. We were born here on Earth and it is our home. Think of us as messengers of the Creator and nothing more. Please continue. What happened to the Ayatollah?"

"He started acting strangely. He would only come every once in a while, never staying for prayer and right after he leaves, someone goes out and commits violence. Always, the ones sent never returns," the Imam says," He is always preceded by one of his men, who are constantly watching. If someone tries to stop the persons picked by him they disappear too."

"Can you tell us where this Ayatollah is," Hermione asks?

"No one knows," The Imam answers," I used to know but, but I can't remember."

"He knows," Harry says pointing to the man frozen in front of them," He will guide us there momentarily."

"One last message you can spread," Hermione says," Once we have the dark presence causing all of the local violence local we will remove the other dark presence that works in the palace by the river. Please elders. Each of you leads a part of the community. All of you live by the teachings in your holy book. This pleases the Creator. Our advice is to do as the western countries do and leave religion out of politics. If you have a disagreement with another group try to work it out diplomatically. It should be done in a secular manner by creating a Council of Elders to run the city and settle disputes. This is what we have done where we live. Myself and my husband rely on a council of our elders for advice and guidance. I'm sure your ancestors had something similar in the old days. The system still works and you can keep your own separate communities intact. If you need or want our advice, send out word and we will hear. If you need proof of our power and influence just keep an eye on the palace across the river. We are going to show the world what happens when one man gets corrupted by too much power."

With that said, the Elders each grab an arm of the frozen man and the three fade away. The elders and Imam take to heart what they are told and start to spread the word about the Elders of the Universe being in their mosque.

Having read from the prisoner's mind where the Ayatollah is residing; the Elders phase into the entry way of his residence with their prisoner. They stand him in a corner to keep him out of the way and then raise anti apparition and anti-portkey wards. A blue shield snaps into place around the building as a precaution.

"_Upstairs," _Hermione sends_," he must have thought his wards would be enough. There are no guards." _

The couple puts their hoods back up and float quietly up the stairs to the first floor. Following the signature of the dark presence they float down a long hallway to a door at the end with a light showing from the space under the door and come to a stop. Behind the door they can hear talking.

"Has Hasan returned yet from the Mosque," someone who sounds like he is in charge asks? "I want a report on how much damage was caused. I need these peasants to fight each other so I can take over without them noticing until it is too late."

"No, Emir. He hasn't reported back yet," someone else answers.

"Then find out where he is," the one in charge yells.

"I hear and obey," the other person responds.

That person rushes to the door and opens it to exit the room only to be brought up short when he runs into the unmovable wall of Harry and Hermione. He bounces off them and ends up in the seated position on the floor.

"That won't be necessary," Harry says as he freezes everyone in the room completely, except the leader.

The leader tries to disapperate to escape and when that doesn't work he tries an emergency port key to no effect. He can't seem to move his legs to run either.

"Those methods won't work," Hermione says," Your days of terrorizing are over."

Harry waves his hand at the supposed Ayatollah and his glamor washes away revealing and old man with graying hair and evil beady eyes. He is not even from Iraq. They read from his mind that his name is Petro Slavinski and he comes from the Ukrainian Provence of Cherkas'ka.

"What have you done with the Ayatollah?" Harry asks looking him directly in the eyes while scanning his thoughts.

"Why should I tell you anything," he answers defiantly.

"He's locked in the basement," Harry says to Hermione.

She nods at him and then closes her eyes in concentration. She senses an older man two floors below and alone. She opens her eyes and while looking directly at the imposter, phases to the isolated room below where she alights on the floor and bows to the lone man sitting cross-legged on the floor in calm meditation.

"I knew you would come Elder," he says to her," I have great faith in Allah and knew he would hear my prayers."

"He has heard your prayers and we are here to set things right," she responds," Please take my hand and witness our justice."

She reaches out her hand and when he takes hold, she phases them back to his office where he can see the imposter frozen in place, along with several of his men. She releases his hand and walks over to stand by her husband. They each flick their wrists and rods shoot out of their sleeves into their hands which they hold out and expand into their staffs. An ethereal wind starts to swirl around the room and the Elders rise off the floor to look down on the criminal.

"**Petro Slavinski,"** They chant aloud for the non magicals**," You have been judged by the Elders of the Universe to not be worthy to hold any titles or land. You will be turned over to the Ayatollah for judgment according to their laws." **

Inside the imposter's mind he heard_," You have been judged by the Elders of the Universe to not be worthy to practice magic. Your magic is to be stripped from you and you will live out the rest of your life as a normal human. May the Creator have mercy on your soul?" _

Beams of light emit from the jewels at the top of their staves and envelope the criminal in a wash of light that is absorbed into his body. Outside the building, the locals had noticed the blue shield snap around the Ayatollah's residence and called the police, who quickly cordoned off the area around the building to keep the crowd back. Word had spread quickly about the Elders visit to the Mosque and everyone in the city knew except the ones loyal to the countries dictator. The people had long ago learned who to avoid to stay out of his or his sons sights.

When the Elders are finished dispensing their justice on the imposter they settle back to the floor. The Ayatollah beckons them to a corner of the room.

"I am the leader for this region of Iraq. I know about the magical world," he says to them," Like your Queen, yes I can tell from your accents where you reside, I keep in touch with both worlds. It is necessary for me to be a go between to keep the peace. I knew when he came he was a dark wizard but I had no power to stop him."

"We have taken his magic from him and he is normal now so he can be treated like any other criminal. " Harry says.

"I thank you for that Elder," the Ayatollah says in gratitude.

Hermione conjures a stone disk fifteen centimeters in diameter covered with six runes on each side around the perimeter with another in the center to make the seventh.

She gives it to the Ayatollah and says," With this disk your building is protected from anyone with ill intent. It draws its power from the ambient magic in the area. You can get stone carvers to copy this for any home or building anywhere. This will make good protection for the Mosques to keep militants from using them as sanctuary from the law or disturbing daily prayer services. They must be carved by hand and by a person with a clean spirit and happy demeanor. They have to be given out freely to show good will. They will not work for any one with ill intent toward another. That is the key. Magic is all about intent and the wards created by the runes on the stone will know. It doesn't matter what order the runes are carved but make sure they are copied precisely as they are on this one. Carve the center one last as it will activate the stone. This will work on wizards and normal people the same and will prevent what happened to you from happening again."

"This is a blessing from Allah," He says," I will make sure it is put to good use, thank you Elders."

"The police are outside holding the people back," Harry says," we will inform them you have prisoners. They will not be able to move until they are touched by a police officer so make sure they know to cuff them first in case one of them tries to fight back. You might want to speak to your followers to let them know you are well. We will take your leave and take care of the evil across the river now."

"I will do as you say Elders," the Ayatollah says with a slight bow with his fingers steepled together in front.

The blue shield dissipates as the Elders walk out the front entrance. They inform the police commander it is now safe inside. The police then run into the building and up the stairs to check on the Ayatollah. When they arrive he passes the instructions from the Elders and all of the criminals are arrested and taken away. The Ayatollah then steps onto the balcony to address the crowd that has gathered.

"The evil that has plagued our city with violence has been removed. The evil that has plagued our country is about to be removed from across the river." He says to a cheering crowd.

As the Ayatollah is giving his speech and blessings to his people, Harry and Hermione phase across the river and start walking toward the main gates to the palace.

"We're going to have to make this very visible," Hermione says to Harry," Let's bring the Phoenix down. At two hundred meters across, it is just large enough to cover the central building and portions on each side. Its power will be enough for the portal we need to make to cover the whole palace complex." albums/o232/jjslll54/Republican_Palace_Baghdad_

"Okay Hermione, you bring her in while I watch the guards," Harry says as they walk towards the south gate," Looks like they know we are here. The palace is in lockdown with all of the guards inside the grounds. Let's put on a light show at the gates with our sabers. You take the left and I will take the right. The Jedi Consulars have come calling."

As they approach the entrance to the palace with its twelve foot high walls and gates, the guards line up in front of the gates, blocking the way, and point their guns at the couple.

"Halt! You have no authority here," the guard commander commands.

"I'd move out of the way if I were you," Harry advises as they keep walking forward.

Harry and Hermione pull their light sabers and ignite them. The guards raise the guns to fire at the couple and Hermione raises her saber and in the blink of an eye all the guns barrels are sliced off. The guards get the message and move out of the way. The sabers make short work of the hinges that hold the gates in place and with a push from the couple, two massive iron gates fall inward to the ground with a large clang and a lot of dust. When the guards see them fly up to get to the upper hinges they all take off running towards the northern gate and what they perceive as safety. Harry and Hermione continue walking along the drive to the main entrance of the palace. They put away their sabers and get their staffs out. A blue shield snaps into place over the whole complex using the walls as a guide. The guards inside try to fire their weapons at the couple and find they no longer work.

Up at the ISS station the Phoenix starts to power up, seemingly on its own, from standby mode prompting the astronauts on board scramble to get back onto the station. The second the last astronaut is through the airlock the umbilical detaches and retracts into the Phoenix.

"That ship knew we were on it," one of the Russian astronauts says," It waited until we got off before leaving."

"Yea," says his American companion in agreement.

The station crew watches as the ship powers up and then descends towards the Arabian Peninsula, which they are approaching on their orbital path. They radio in to their respective commands to update them on the situation. They are told the Elders are handling a situation in Iraq and to turn their cameras on as they pass over.

On the ground the people of Bagdad hear an unusual sound above them as the Phoenix descends at hypersonic speeds. About two hundred meters above the central dome of the palace, the saucer shaped ship comes to an abrupt stop and hovers there. The people can see a shimmering shield around the black ship with the large white bird painted on the hull. Only the shield around the ship saved the palace windows and the windows of the buildings around from being blown out by the speed of approach.

The Elders look up when the Phoenix arrives. Hermione sends out a mental command and two ten meter silver spheres descend from doors in the bottom of the ship. They settle down a meter into the ground and an outline of a door appears at ground level. As they walk past the nearest sphere they hear a voice from a speaker next to the door.

"We are ready," it says in Arabic as it sends out a cloaked camera droid that the Elders had picked up in the legit galaxy," Broadcasting now."

"_Ready for what,"_ the soldiers on the grounds wonder.

All of the TV screens in Iraq are over ridden and are now showing the Elders as they walk into the palace building.

The Elders continue into the building, homing in on the location of the dark presence of Saddam Hussein and his two sons. They find them in a large office conferring with each other, trying to figure out what is happening with occasional glances out the window at the flying saucer hovering overhead. When the doors to their office open, the trio turns and stares at to two hooded figures walking into the room.

Saddam looks at them with contempt and a little fear in his eyes.

"What do you want?" he asks arrogantly, trying to keep up his bravado.

"Show me your faces. Are you hiding behind hoods because you are afraid of me?" he taunts," You should be."

The two figures look at each other and shrug their shoulders, reach up with their hands and lower their hoods.

Saddam looks at them and snorts," you're just foreign children. How did you get into the palace? I am the Supreme Leader of Iraq and will be nice to you since you **are** just children and will allow you to leave unharmed."

His youngest and smartest son leans over and whispers in his father's ear. "Looks could be deceiving Father. Don't forget the flying saucer hovering above us."

"Your son is correct. Looks can be deceiving," the female says," I am sixty four Earth years old and my husband Harry is sixty three."

"I'll be sixty four next month Hermione," He says," but who's counting."

"Hush Harry," she says," we have a job to do."

The pair turns to back to the trio standing in front of them.

"**We are the Elders of the Universe," **they chant**," We are messengers from the Creator of all Things. Saddam Hussein, you have been judged by the Creator to be guilty of genocide against your own people, for using bio weapons against your own people, for conspiring to build weapons of mass destruction to threaten the rest of the world. We sentence you and your family, along with all the people that are loyal to you to exile on another planet."**

With a wave of their hands his wife and three daughters appear next to him. The soldiers outside notice the alien ship take on a pulsing green glow inside its shield and the humming noise increases as soldiers and people start appearing all over the grounds.

Saddam's wife and daughters were watching the TV like everyone else when they suddenly find themselves standing next to her husband and the girl's father.

The youngest son looks out the window when one of the green pulses from the ship catches his eye, "Father, look outside!"

Saddam looks out the window and watches as more and more of his soldiers and their families appear on the grounds.

"Father," his youngest daughter asks," what's going on?"

Saddam Hussein realizes his days as the leader of Iraq is over," We are being exiled Hala. I can do nothing about it. We have been judged by Allah himself."

He turns to the Elders and asks," how will we survive?"

"We are not without compassion." Harry says," We do not kill if we can find an alternative. Fortunately, we have the technology to send you to another planet where you can no longer be a threat to this one. You will have this building and the tools to survive. The two silver Spheres on the grounds outside have the means to power this building and will teach you how to survive on your new home. Think of this exile as a similar situation to Australia. They started out as a penal colony and look where they are now. Eventually your descendants will build up the colony to be able to join with the rest of the galactic community. We believe in family above all else. That is why everyone that has one has been brought here. It is up to you on how to set up your colony. Your weapons will work on wildlife but not on each other. The spheres will see to that. You and your sons cannot harm these people as you have been. One last thing. The Creator is everywhere and he will be watching. Don't give him a reason for us to come calling."

With that said, the Elders phase up to their ship and sit in the command chairs. All around the saucer section doors open and two meter spheres fly out to make a perimeter around the palace grounds. The spheres activate causing a filmy haze to form above the palace. The people on the ground, along with the news crews and bystanders, watch as the haze clears to show a view of a pristine field of grass with a range of mountains in the background. They watch as the portal window starts to move slowly downward and as it touches the central dome, it starts to disappear through the portal. After a few minutes the portal reaches the ground and descends down into it making sure all the sub levels go with the building. When it is finished, it rises back up to a height of a hundred meters, where the news crews and bystanders can see the palace is now sitting in the field they saw earlier. The portal dissipates with a soft pop and the silver spheres fly back into their compartments around the rim of the ship and the doors close.

"People of Earth," The Elders broadcast," This is what happens when one man goes too far. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and this is the price paid. They have been exiled to another planet with no chance to return to Earth in their lifetime. Whether they survive or not on the colony planet, are up to them. They were judged by the Creator of All Things and we are his messengers. Do not forget this lesson."

Where the Grand Republican Palace once stood is now a very large open grassy field with the sublevels having been filled in with soil and grass from the field on the other planet. There is one last flare of bright light from the ship, which causes everyone to close their eyes and the cameras to blank out momentarily. When the light fades and the cameras start working again, everyone looks on in disbelief at what they see. In the field where the palace was is a manicured park with large shade trees and benches to sit on, along with a play park for the children. The people on the ground and all over the world via their television sets, watches the Phoenix ascend into the sky, rapidly disappearing.

There is a large arched sign held up on either side by two obelisks that reads:

_**This park is dedicated to **_

_**All of the victims of past wars**_

_**Courtesy of**_

_**The Elders of the Universe**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 42:

The Elders guided the Phoenix back to its parking orbit next to the International Space Station and extended the docking umbilical to the airlock. Deciding that since the Creator told them to use the Phoenix well; they would make a proposal to the astronauts.

Harry and Hermione walk into the command module of the station and ask everyone to gather round.

"Commander Rhodes, Commander Chernov?" Harry greets the station commanders with a nod," We have a proposal to make to your governments and the scientific community in general."

Commander Chernov looks around at his fellow astronauts and with nods from them responds, "You have our complete attention Elder."

"What we propose is to use the Phoenix to explore the solar system," Hermione says," The Creator gave us our ship with instructions to use it well, and since Earth is our home, we would like to see the other planets up close for ourselves. We **could** just go off and do this for our own edification, but thought it would be the perfect opportunity for scientists of Earth to construct probes we could plant where ever you want them."

The two commanders, along with the other astronauts look on astonished and then get rather large smiles on their faces as the implications for scientific knowledge begins to sink in.

"We understand it will take some time to construct the sensor packages," Hermione continues as she walks over to the work station she installed earlier. She sits down and starts typing very fast while the crew gathers behind her and look over her shoulders. What they see is a vast array of numbers and schematics scrolling through the screen very quickly. After a few minutes of typing she stops, satisfied everything is input into the computer for the crew to study.

"What Hermione just did was to give you the schematics and construction specifications for a standard sensor package that will work in any environment." Harry says to the group," The manufacture of Trinium should have begun by now in America. The formula is in the computer to pass on to every steel manufacturing country in the world. Trinium is the key to making superconducting wire and circuits. With superconductors you will have the ability to construct fusion reactors that will easily contain the fusion energy released, allowing you to power any interplanetary spaceships you design. We have a scientist in our employ that is working on Null Gravity fields. She has already made a prototype that will be used in place of wheel chairs and other medical patient transport needs. With the reactors, spaceships will be able to get from Earth to Pluto in days instead of years."

Hermione turns to Commander Chernov and says," Commander, how would you like to be the first Russian to set foot on the moon. We know your country's technology wasn't quite ready when the Americans went in the sixties and nobody on Earth is ready for a return at this time."

"You mean now?" He asks astonished," I know with current technology it takes three days to get there. How long would it take the Phoenix to make the trip?"

"Our normal mode of long distance travel is by portal as you saw us do before." Harry says," Portal travel is instantaneous, or we can take the scenic route, so to speak, and approach the moon slowly so you can watch it grow as we get closer. By slowly I mean an hour."

"I will have to contact my superior for permission first but I would love to go," Commander Chernov says.

"There is more than enough room on the Phoenix for everyone here if you can get it authorized," Hermione says," There is a tractor beam/transporter type device on the Phoenix for picking up samples, so if your superiors have a preference we can accommodate them."

The two commanders quickly make calls to their respective superiors to make the request and get instructions. Not wanting to pass up this chance for more samples from the moon the ground commanders quickly agree and the station crew get their gear ready for the trip. After loading the gear and getting coordinates for the wanted samples everyone boards the Phoenix. Harry and Hermione take their seats and insert their hands into the control grooves. With a mental command from Harry the ship powers up and retracts the umbilical from the station. The astronauts are watching Harry and Hermione control the ship and notice the subtle movements in their fingers within the grooves.

"Is that how you control the Phoenix," Commander Chernov asks," with your finger movements?"

"That and our minds," Hermione answers," It is the only way we can control this ship with just two people. Granted, Harry and I aren't ordinary people and this ship was designed specifically for us."

She reaches out to a panel and touches a lighted pad causing chairs to emerge from the floor and consoles around the bridge to swing up and activate.

"Gentlemen and ladies, these are the actual stations on this ship for bridge operations with a full crew." Hermione starts," The panel on my left is for ship operations such as life support and external sensors. You can also operate the tractor beam/transporter for bringing in samples. The one on Harry's right is helm control for plotting courses and navigating the ship. Around the bridge you will find an engineering station, a science station and a communications station. There is also a fire control/tactical station for defending the Phoenix from hostiles. If everyone will assume your station according to your specialty, you will find the stations are all now fully activated so you can see how their functions work for real. Until now, you have been running simulations, so go ahead and study the controls to get a feel for them. Watch your screens as you work to get real time updates for your station. Communications; go ahead and call Earth for a com check and keep them updated on our progress. The com will contact both American and Russian bases simultaneously so you won't need to repeat yourself twice. We will take an hour to get to the moon to give you a chance to get more familiar with your stations."

Everyone assumes the station they are familiar with from prior practice and gets to work. Harry sets the ship on auto pilot, allowing him and Hermione to walk around the bridge showing each person the finer points in running their station. As they approach the moon Harry shows the helm officer how to slow the ship for their approach to the first coordinates for a sample pickup. As soon as they reach the coordinates the helmsman hover's the ship and the operations officer activates the tractor beam to pull the first sample into the hold where it is put into stasis by the ship. After collecting several more samples to give the two officer's practical experience, the crew picks a landing spot and sets the ship down on the surface. The crew then takes the lift down to the landing deck where the airlock opens to a set of stairs down one of the landing struts. Everyone dons space suites and proceeds out the airlock and down the steps with Commander Chernov leading the way. The rest of the crew holds back while Commander Chernov steps out from the ship and plants a Russian flag for his nation. Everyone then follows and gathers around where the American commander also plants a flag. Harry pulls a camera and takes a picture of the astronauts standing as a group with the flags on either side of them with the Earth in the background. When everyone is done looking around and gathering dust and rock samples from around the ship, they all go back inside. Once back in the departure bay they remove their space suites and stow them in their lockers where the ship then cleans them and preps them for their next use.

"I like those space suites Elder," Commander Chernov says to Harry," They are less cumbersome than ours."

"Your names are now on those lockers you used," Harry says," the suites are yours to use while on the ship. There are spares you can take back to Earth with you to allow your governments to make more. And please, call us Harry and Hermione. We like working with you and we are not in the military. We have one more surprise for you and then we will return to the station. Let's proceed back to the bridge."

Once everyone is back at their stations Harry and Hermione take their seats, where they lift the ship into orbit.

"We are going to show you what portal travel is like next," Hermione says," Navigation, if you will watch your screen you will notice two sets of coordinates come up. The first set is for departure and the second is the arrival set. Once those numbers come up go ahead and insert them into the computer using the touch pad in front of you."

The navigator sees the numbers come up on her screen and puts them into the computer as instructed.

"If Harry and I weren't here you would have to get these numbers from the navigational computer instead of my mind. " Hermione says," We will show you how to program the coordinates for the entire solar system when we get back. For now since the numbers are in, just touch the pad labeled 'execute' and watch what happens outside the ship."

The navigation officer touches the pad and gets a series beep sounds (think of the sounds made when Wesley Crusher executed his course input on the Enterprise) to indicate the order was received and accepted by the navigation computer and then looks out the window and gasps.

"It's working," she says as she watches the portal form in front of the Phoenix.

It takes ten seconds for the portal to form fully and she can see the edge of a planet through the portal.

"Go ahead and take us though Chenka," Harry says," just like you did on the surface."

"Yes sir," she responds," Here we go."

The ship slowly approaches the portal and slips through. When it comes out on the other side the crew can see they are in orbit around another planet.

"That's Mars," the com officer exclaims.

"Very good," Hermione says," We thought since we are out getting samples we would do the same here. Science station, if you will scan the planet you will find readings of the different types of rock and soils. You may even find water at the poles. We will get samples just like we did on the moon. Harry and I will sit back and watch you all do your jobs and only interfere if needed."

Hermione touches a control pad on her chair causing her and Harry's seats to be moved to the center of the Bridge. The chairs then rise up a few centimeters to allow them to view all the stations at work.

The crew efficiently takes the Phoenix down to the surface after getting coordinates from the science station and picks up samples from several areas of the planet. The samples are scanned for contaminates and put into stasis for the trip back to Earth. They even set the ship down on the surface where everyone repeats the procedure that was done on the moon with flags and pictures except no Earth in the background as it is too far away. Once all of the samples requested by the Earth based scientists have been acquired, Chenka raises the Phoenix into orbit. Hermione sets the coordinates for the return trip and Chenka flies the ship through the portal. The Phoenix comes out next to the station back in Earth orbit where the docking umbilical attaches to the airlock, allowing the crew to disembark.

"You are now officially the first humans from Earth to land on the planet Mars," Harry says and with a wave of his hand, patches appear on each of their uniforms with the planet Mars on it with the date of their landing.

"We will take these samples down to the two bases to be tested by the scientists on the ground and be back in a bit with the Phoenix," Hermione says," Now that you have some practical experience with the Phoenix, we will allow you to fly the missions with the sensor packages when they are ready. We will still have to go with you but we will let you do all the work and be there as back up if we are needed. Study the navigational computer on the ship and you will understand the coordinate system for navigating the solar system. With this you can plot the most efficient route for planting the sensor packages. Good job everyone and we will see you again when you are ready for the next mission."

Harry and Hermione take the samples to the two bases and bring the ship back to parking orbit. After setting it up for the crew to run simulated missions the couple phase back to their room at the Granger's house where it is two o'clock in the morning. They get cleaned up after a hard day's work and climb into bed where they immediately fall asleep.

/

Earlier in the day while Harry and Hermione are busy in Iraq, in the small hamlet of Little Hangleton, Frank Bryce is at the local pub watching the action on the telly. He watches as the portal makes a large building complex disappear.

"People of Earth," he hears from the television speakers," This is what happens when one man goes too far. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and this is the price paid. They have been exiled to another planet with no chance to return to Earth in their lifetime. Whether they survive or not on the colony planet, are up to them. They have been judged by the Creator of All Things and we are his messengers. Do not forget this lesson."

Mr. Bryce stays for dinner and after a few rounds of darts with his fellows, makes his way back home. He putters around his small cottage for a while and goes to bed.

Things weren't always this good for Mr. Bryce. When he was a young man he fought in WWll as an infantryman and was wounded in the leg. Unable to fight, he returned home and took up the caretaker's job at Riddle manor, the home of a young squire and his parents. The squire had run off with a girl to parts unknown for several months and came back one day without the girl. Sixteen years later the squire and his parents were found dead with no apparent marks on their bodies. Mr. Bryce was arrested as the most likely suspect but with no evidence he did the deed the constable had to let him go. The townspeople all thought he did it despite the lack of evidence and he was ostracized for years. It's only been the last couple of years that he finally got accepted back into the community and is able to walk around without the looks and scorn from the people.

About three in the morning Mr. Bryce is woken by the ach in his leg and he gets up to put a kettle on for tea. As he sets the kettle on the stove he looks out the window and spots a light coming from an upper story window in the old Riddle Manor.

"Stupid ruddy kids again," he mutters as he gets his keys and a torch (flashlight) to light his way. He grabs his pistol, in case the intruders turn out to be more than just kids, and walks out the back door to his cottage where he makes his way to the servant's entrance to the manor. It is very quiet in the house so he walks with a light step to keep whoever is upstairs from hearing his steps. Despite his injured leg, he still remembers his military training on how to sneak up on an enemy. He gets about a third of the way up the stairs when he hears voices. He pauses to listen, hoping to get a feel for who is in the room.

"But master," a nervous squeaky voice asks," Why should we wait so long? The Quidditch World cup isn't for another month and the Tri-Wizard Tournament takes all year. I could get you another wizard for the ritual."

"You dare question me, Lord Voldemort?" Frank hears," Crucio."

Franks sees a flash of light and hears a scream that last a few seconds.

"Never question me again," the one that described himself as Lord Voldemort says.

"Yes master," The voice says bitterly," I brought you Bertha Jorkins."

"That you did," Voldemort says," She served her purpose and then I killed her. No use leaving a mindless husk behind. You have been faithful Wormtail and I still have a use for you."

"Thank you master," Wormtail says in gratitude.

"Where's Nagini," Voldemort asks?

"I don't know," Wormtail answers," She must be exploring the manor."

Just then a large snake slithers up past Frank, pauses and rises up from the stairs to look Frank in the eyes. Frank nearly wets himself in fear at the size of the snake. He had learned in survival training if you walk up on a snake you are supposed to stand very still. If the snake thinks you are not a threat it will move away eventually. He freezes up and resists the urge to panic. Then he gets the surprise of his life when he hears a voice in his mind. The snake is talking to him.

/

A few minutes earlier back in Crawley, Harry and Hermione are being sent another vision by the Creator while they are sleeping. In their minds they are looking out a pair of eyes that is very close to the ground and moving slowly along what looks like a dusty floor. The moving stops and they hear a question.

"Who is here with me," a hissing sound issues from the mouth of the being the eyes belong to.

"_Must be a snake we are looking out from,"_ Hermione sends to Harry.

"_We are the Elders," _Harry sends back_," We have been given a connection to you by the Creator. We mean you no harm. Please just think to us so you don't give us away. Who do we have the privilege of being connected to?"_

"_I am Nagini, Familiar to Lord Voldemort, Elders," _the snake says in her mind_," I am honored to speak to you." _

"_The honor is ours Nagini,"_ the elders respond_," Do you know where you are?"_

"_No Elders,"_ the snake thinks_," I just know I am in a new place I have never been before."_

"_Very well. We will just tag along while you return to your master," _Harry sends_._

Nagini slithers around the floor and starts up a set of stairs where she sees a man standing, listening to the conversation in the room above. She rises up and looks a man in the eyes who is now standing very still while looking back at the snake.

Harry looks at the frightened man from Nagini's eyes and scans his mind.

"_You need to leave this place very quietly Mr. Bryce,"_ He sends_," I am one of the Elders you saw on the telly today talking to your mind through this snake. You are in grave danger of being killed if you stay here. Please leave and stay at the pub for now. We will find you and provide a safe place for you. We will appear as children and will call you grandpa when we see you." _

Frank looks at the snake and nods his head then begins to back down the stairs quietly. He makes his way back to his cottage and packs his thing in a duffle bag and heads to the pub where he finds a room is already waiting for him.

"_Are you his familiar by choice Nagini,"_ Hermione asks?

"_No, I was out hunting for prey when he captured me with magic,"_ She thinks to her_," He put something dark in me and I have been doing his bidding ever since." _

"_Have faith Nagini,"_ Hermione sends_," We will free you when the time is right."_

"_Thank you Elders," She says," I will spy for you to help while I wait."_

"_That is very generous," Harry says," Hopefully your wait won't be a long one."_

"_It doesn't matter," Nagini says," He does allow me to hunt when I am hungry." _

Nagini makes her way into the room where Voldemort is sitting. After another hour a third person enters the room and kneels before Voldemort.

"All is in readiness my Lord," the person says.

"Excellent," Voldemort answers.

/

The next morning the Potters wake up at their normal time and go to the training room to work out.

"He's at Riddle Manor in Little Hangleton," Harry says to Hermione while they are sparring with their sabers.

"We have his plan and will be ready when the time comes," Hermione agrees.

They continue sparring for another thirty minutes and then get cleaned up and dressed for the day.

When they enter the kitchen they are tackled by their parents in a group hug before sitting down at the table for breakfast.

"We saw you on the telly yesterday you two," Mr. Granger says," That was some show. You never cease to amaze us. I wish we could do that to all the dictators that oppress their people."

"We may have to if they don't get the message we sent." Hermione says," We will not interfere with their forms of government as long as their people are being cared for with at least basic needs. We will not abide by genocide like Hitler did against people of the Jewish faith. Hussein tried that with the Kurds in northern Iraq and thankfully it didn't work. Unfortunately, we can't bring back the dead, so we set up that park as a memorial to honor them and all other Iraqi war victims."

"Where did you send him," Mrs. Granger asks?

"We sent him; along with his soldiers and families to the same planet we sent the Mexican cartel families." Harry answers," The planet is in a solar system with five planets in all, about fifteen light years from Earth. They were given adequate resources to survive and should manage okay. The main thing is he can no longer cause more trouble here on **our** planet."

"Do you have any plans for today," Mrs. Granger asks?

"We have to meet a man in Little Hangleton that was in danger last night," Harry answers.

"What was he in danger from," Mr. Granger asks?

"Voldemort is back in the country," Hermione says," He is still a wraith using a small weak body made up of snake venom and magic. The man's name is Frank Bryce. He is the property caretaker of Riddle Manor. We basically told him to leave his job as care taker in order to save his life, so we will offer him another job that is safer and hopefully one he will enjoy."

"If you know where this Voldemort is, why don't you go take care of him," Mrs. Granger asks?

"We can't do anything yet because he has a plan in motion that we need to monitor and counter as it progresses," Hermione explains," We will take care of him when the time is right."

"Jeeves!" Harry calls out.

Jeeves pops in and bows," Yes sire?"

"Have you got the list of properties I asked you to get from Gringotts?"

"Yes sire," He answers as the list materializes in his hand.

"Are there any properties suitable for an elderly mundane caretaker to look after," Harry asks?

"Yes there is Sire," Jeeves responds," There is a small horse farm in Wiltshire where horses are set to pasture in their old age."

Everyone's head pops up at the mention of horses.

Jeeves snaps his fingers and a set of keys and papers appear on the table.

"These are the keys and the documents for the property, along with a contract for employment," Jeeves explains.

"I didn't know we had horses here in England," Hermione comments.

"According to this list we have two businesses similar to the one in Glendale plus the retirement farm," Harry says while looking at the list.

"How many of the businesses on the list have elves," Hermione asks?

"Just about all of them Hermione," Harry says with a sigh," Grandpa Charlus must have set up all these businesses and left the elves to run them. No wonder we have so much money. There are properties all over the world."

"We have to do something Harry," Hermione says misty eyed," I can't live with knowing we own so many sentient beings."

"I know sweetheart," Harry says," This is a little overwhelming. We will take care of it, but it will take time. We can make a project out of it. With our photographic memories we can visit each property and bond with the elves while we learn the businesses we own. This will also help out in our long term goals once we learn what resources we have. We can bring these resources to bear as we bring the world out of chaos and conflict."

"Okay Harry," Hermione says while cuddling to her husband's side," I don't like it but even **we** can't be everywhere at once."

"Let's go make an offer to Mr. Bryce," Harry says as he gets up from the breakfast table.

Hermione finishes up with her breakfast and grabs Harry's hand.

"We will be back a little later mum and dad," Harry says as they fade out.

They fade back in in an alley near the pub Mr. Bryce is staying at. Harry and Hermione walk out of the alley hand in hand slowly as if they were just on a morning stroll. They enter the pub, where they spot Mr. Bryce sitting at a table eating his breakfast. They walk up to his table.

"Hi grandpa," Harry says giving the code word.

"Hello you two," he says with a smile, playing along," been a long time."

"Yes it has grandpa," Hermione says," we're glad you are safe."

A bar maid walks up," Would you two want breakfast then?"

Harry looks at her," no ma'am, but we wouldn't mind some fresh orange juice."

"Comin' right up," she says and walks off to get two glasses. She returns shortly and places the glasses of juice on the table.

"Thank you," Harry says as she walks off.

Harry looks over at Mr. Bryce and asks," Know anything about horses?"

"That was part of me job in the army when I was a youth," Mr. Bryce answers.

"Perfect," Harry says," We have a job offer for you. My name is Harry Potter and this is Hermione Potter. We own a lot of properties and one of them is a horse farm where older horses are put out to pasture. We need someone to watch over the place and take care of the horses. There are a couple of younger workers there that need the supervision of an older, more experience person such as yourself. You won't have to worry about vandals or dealing with terrorists like you did last night."

"You know who that is that broke into the house talkin' about murder," He asks with wide eyes?

"Yes we know who it is and believe me; you don't want to be anywhere near him. He would kill you the instant he laid eyes on you." Harry says," The only life that has any meaning to him is his own."

Harry hands the papers over to Mr. Bryce who looks them over and pulls a pen from his pocket and signs the employment contract.

"Okay," he says," I'm in."

Harry hands him the keys and an envelope with some cash in it for a pay advance and for the trip to Wiltshire.

"The keys are for the farm house which is unoccupied and larger than the cottage you were living in. You should be comfortable and the younger workers will be easy to handle," Hermione says.

"Thanks," Mr. Bryce says happily," This is my dream come true. I always wanted to retire with horses. They never talk back to you and if you treat 'em right, they make the best companions."

Hermione smiles real big when she hears him say that.

"You will do just fine Mr. Bryce," Hermione says," We will tell them you are coming."

"Who, the horses," he asks?

"Yes," she says," you see, to them, it is us humans that have to be trained."

With that the two children fade out to the farm in Wiltshire where they free and bond with the two elves there and let them and the horses know that Mr. Bryce is on his way and will treat them well.

Mr. Bryce sits there staring at the place the two children were sitting at and then gets a big smile on his face as he realizes he had been talking to the Elders he saw on TV the other day. Two pounds and six pence appear on the table to pay for the two glasses of juice and Frank bursts out laughing.

"_I'm going to like working for these two,"_ he thinks to himself as he gets up from the table leaving his own money for his breakfast.

Harry and Hermione meanwhile phase over to the two stables they own and introduce themselves to the managers and spend the afternoon riding and talking with the horses. They free and bond with the elves there as well.

Around high tea, Harry looks at Hermione and says," I want to try something."

He takes her hand and phases them to an empty warehouse on the list and calls out," Any Potter house elves in England please respond to my voice and come to me."

Almost immediately elves start popping in from all over the country almost filling up the warehouse. After the popping sounds stop Harry and Hermione float up about a meter off the floor so everyone can see them.

"Dippy," Harry calls out.

Dippy pops in and harry lifts her up so all the elves can see her.

"You called my Lord," she asks?

"Please tell the elves what happened to you at Hogwarts three years ago," he instructs.

She proceeds to tell them how Harry and Hermione found a way to free them from slavery and make them bonded family members.

"Thank you Dippy," Hermione says," You may return to whatever you were doing."

She pops away and Harry stares out at the two hundred and thirty seven elves that had answered his call.

"If you want to be bonded as family to us like Dippy, please line up with the females on the right and the males on the left. We will get through this as quickly as we can so you can resume your duties. We will come to visit each of you eventually to learn what your jobs are," Harry promises.

Every one of the elves lines up according to gender, with Harry bonding the males and Hermione the females. After about three hours the job is done and they watch as the last one goes through the change and then pops back to wherever he came from.

"Well, that got the job done for the elves in our country but we will have to visit our other holdings to free the rest," Harry says.

Hermione walks up to Harry and kisses him deeply and snuggles into her favorite place by his side as they phase back home.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **Sorry this is so late. Just went through five weeks of intense art classes in collage and didn't have time for anything else.

**Chapter 43: Getting on with a typical summer at the Grangers**

As the couple phase back into the Grangers kitchen Hermione yells out excitedly:

"We did it mum. Or rather, it was Harry's idea, but we did it."

Mrs. Granger runs into the kitchen when she hears Hermione's yell.

"I can see that you are excited about something, but what did you do to make you that way," she asks?

Hermione looks up lovingly at Harry and says," We freed and bonded to all of our elves in England. We now just have to visit our other properties around the world to finish the job. Unfortunately that will take time. We had no idea Grandpa Potter had gotten around so much, though we shouldn't be surprised considering what he did in America."

"That's good to hear Hermione," Her father says while walking into the kitchen where he pours himself a cup of tea.

"I saw an empty warehouse on the property list and when I called for all the elves in England, they showed up. I'm just glad my idea worked." Harry explains," We have a lot of properties in England and Scotland and it would have taken forever to visit each one individually. This will also give us an excuse to travel the world to check on conditions near each one of our holdings."

Just then the doorbell rings and Jeeves walks to the door to see who it is. A minute later agent Hamilton walks in with a pair envelopes in his hand. He hands one to Harry who opens it to find a badge and an Id wallet identifying him as an official member of Mi6, magical division. He gives one to Hermione as well.

"My bosses were so impressed with your solution to the Iraq problem they wanted to make you official agents to give some legitimacy to your actions." He says by way of explanation.

Harry looks over at Hermione, who is wide eyed at the idea that a couple of teenagers would be given this type of status within the British government.

"But, we're just kids," Harry says, knowing they weren't really.

"You may look like kids, but we got word through channels that you spent fifty years in another galaxy rebuilding a whole economy. That makes you two seasoned individuals with all the practical experience needed to more than qualify for these badges. The ids and badges will get you entrance into government buildings and the palace with no questions asked. You have the highest clearance in the land right now other than the Royal Family's." He says," Besides, with you looking like kids, most adults will just ignore you until it is too late. What better cover could you ask for?"

"We need to see the Prime Minister right away about this," Hermione says," There are things going on that him and Her Majesty need to know about and this gives us the perfect opportunity to set it up. Could you set up a meeting for us say, tomorrow?"

"I can pass the word on this evening," agent Hamilton confirms," I'm sure the P.M. will clear his calendar for you two."

"Okay, we will be there at ten in the morning," Harry says.

Agent Hamilton nods farewell and is escorted to the door by Jeeves who lets him out.

"Wow," Mr. Granger says examining Hermione's Id and badge.

"That was certainly unexpected," Harry agrees with his father-in-law.

ooOOoo

Harry looks at Hermione and asks," Want to see a movie? I haven't taken you on a date in a while. We could get something to eat after words."

"That sounds lovely Harry," Hermione says as she walks over to her husband and takes his arm in hers.

They look over to their parents for permission where Mr. Granger says:

"Like agent Hamilton said. You aren't kids any more despite how you look."

"We're still your kids though," Harry insists," It is only right we seek permission from our parents to go out."

The Granger's both hug their children, relieved to hear those words from Harry. They were afraid they were losing them because, technically, they are older than Mrs. Granger's mother.

"We still are thirteen and fourteen year old kids, as far as the general public are concerned. We can't get into an 'R' rated movie or go to the pub for a cold one. You will always be mum and dad to us," Hermione says to her mum.

"Thank you for that reassurance Hermione," Mrs. Granger says," You have our permission. Please be home by eleven."

"We will mum," Harry says.

They go up to their room and get cleaned up to get the smell of horses off them after their day at the stables. Jeeves sees them out the door where the couple strolls down to the local mall cinema. When they get there it is decided to see Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, starring Jim Carey. They both thoroughly enjoyed the movie laughing right along with the audience. After the movie Harry takes Hermione's hand and the couple strolls down the street looking for a decent restaurant. As they are walking Harry notices a gang of boys hanging out at the entrant to one of the alley ways. People are giving them a wide berth as they walk past them. Harry nudges Hermione and nods his head in their direction.

"Let's see if we can scare them away from the neighborhood and maybe into some other line of work," Harry says quietly.

She nods and they start strolling toward the alley entrance. An older, seventeen year old teen, is standing at the entrance to the alley smoking a cigarette. He is watching the well-dressed couple walking toward him and thinks:

"_This is going to be so easy. They look like they might have more than a few quid to spread around." _

"Pardon me sir," Harry asks as they walk up," Is this a shortcut to Wilk's Walk?"

"Right you are gov'na," says the older teen knowing the alley is a dead end.

"Thank you sir," Hermione says as they turn into the alley.

The teen signals to his gang using hand gestures. The trap is set and they follow the couple after giving time to make sure the coast is clear. Unbeknownst to them, they are being watched discreetly by the local constable hoping to catch them in the act. He follows behind to hopefully protect the young couple. He hides behind a dust bin and watches by using a mirror.

Harry and Hermione make their way into the alley where as soon as they turn the corner they disillusion themselves. The gang enters the large area that makes up the square between the four buildings that block the alley way in. They look around, not seeing the kids that they had steered into their trap.

"Where'd they go?" the leader asks," They couldn't have gotten past us. There's no other way out."

"We're right here," the gang hears.

The gang looks over to the where the voices come from and two very large and very mean looking dragons appear out of thin air about three meters above the ground. The dragons fly around the gang, herding them into the middle of the square where Hermione freezes them. The wing flaps of the dragons make some of the loose papers on the ground flutter and the gang can feel the wind made by their movement. F'wump, f'wump, the gang hears as they flap slowly and gracefully.

"I can't move," One of the gang members whispers to the leader in a shaky voice as he tries to run.

"Me neither," the leader whispers back in fear.

The dragons give a loud roar and belch flames from their open mouths, scorching a circle around the gang. Some of the debris around the alley catches fire from the dragon's flames, along with a few tin cans melting. The gang members can feel the heat of the flames as they try in vain to move away from them.

After a few minutes of terror the dragons once again hover on the side away from the entrance and the gang finds they can move again. As they start to run out of the alley they hear in their minds:

"_**This was a warning. You are not to bother people again. We will be watching."**_

The gang gets the message and runs out of the alley screaming about dragons while running off to their homes, vowing to themselves to never go down that alley, or any other alley ever again.

Harry and Hermione clean up and repair the damage they made with their laser beams that were used for the simulated fire from the dragons. There were never any dragons there. The whole thing was projected into the gang's minds by Harry while the pair flew around the gang simulating the dragons.

"You can come out now Constable," Hermione calls out.

He stands up and approaches them.

"That was a very unique solution to the gang problem we have been having," He says," I actually believed I was looking at two dragons. You two must be the Elders that agent Hamilton told me about."

The Potters pull out their badges to show the Constable. He looks them over and his eyes widen at the security clearance indicated by the ids.

"As you can see, we can do pretty much whatever we want," Harry says," You don't have to worry about us abusing the privilege but you can tell your commander about us. By the way, Dragons do exist; they just don't exist in England."

The Potters disillusion themselves again to keep their privacy from the public.

Curious bystanders come for a look in the alley and seeing the Constable, assume he is the reason for the kids running away. Harry and Hermione walk out of the ally still disillusioned and after a right turn, they walk down the street to a quiet out of the way place where they reappear. They continue their walk to the restaurant they had chosen previously where they have a quiet meal. After enjoying their late dinner, Harry and Hermione walk back home. Jeeves meets them at the door letting them in where they go up the stairs to bed.

ooOOoo

The next morning Harry and Hermione wake up at their usual time and after another sparing session get cleaned up for breakfast and their meeting with the P.M. At precisely ten AM the Potters phase into the PM's office where he is waiting and settle into the two chairs set up for them.

"How are you this morning sir," Harry starts out the meeting by asking?

"I'm doing fine majesties," He answers," What brings you here on such a fine morning?"

Harry and Hermione pull out their badges and show them to the PM.

"These for starters," Harry says," We thought since you authorized them we would let you in on our long term goals and ask for your help."

The PM sits back in his chair after examining the badges and asks," What plans do you have and what can I do to help?"

Harry pulls out a Phoenix lapel pin and ring, setting them on the desk. The PM picks them up and looks them over before setting them back down.

"This is the symbol for our house at Hogwarts," Harry says," They are also the symbol for the Knights of the Round Table, our organization."

"What does this organization do," the PM asks?

"Right now it just helps around the school, as we are all students at the present time," Harry says," But in the future, the members will be agents that will go around the world troubleshooting and fixing problems similar to the one you asked us to fix in Iraq. Our goal will be to unite the world under one representative government and bring it into the larger community."

"What can I do as Prime Minister to help," he asks?

"We had hoped, at some time in the future, to recruit non magical people into the organization," Hermione answers," these badges give us access to any resource we might need to accomplish our goals. We would like to have Mi6 be our eyes and ears in the non-magical world. Harry and I are the only ones in the organization that can act at the present time, the rest are still students. What we don't want is to cause a conflict of interest between us and the government. We want Her Majesty informed of our organization and goals and her permission to proceed. Also, if your agents find themselves in a life threatening situation where you are sure someone will be killed or you are trying to save a life, call us. We will respond immediately and help out. We are invulnerable to bullets and everything else so far, so that makes us the best option for those types of situations. We will not kill if we can help it. We send undesirables to another planet to remove them from this one. They stay alive and either adapt to the change or not. It is up to them, but they no longer have any influence on this planet."

"That would be a nice change," the PM says," Not to have to order someone's death or assassination in order to keep the peace. I'm sure our agents wouldn't mind not having to use their weapons on a mission."

"I gave one of our mirror watches to agent Hamilton some time ago," Harry says," If you issue those to your agents they will be able to have visual contact with anyone else that has a watch as long as the agent has the password. You can contact us as well. My password is Hunter while Hermione's is Huntress. We are here to bring order to the chaos that is planet Earth. We have no desire to rule the planet; that is strictly up to the people. Each nation will have a voice in the world government when it comes. No need for any nation to lose its identity or heritage."

"Those are some lofty goals," the PM says," I will bring them to her Majesty's attention."

"Thank you Minister," Hermione says," we will eventually accomplish this regardless of any help we get, but this will get England in on the ground floor as a founding member of the world government. This will not happen overnight but will hopefully happen during your lifetime."

"I look forward to seeing it happen," he says," It's been one of my dreams as well. We just do what we can to get along with everyone and hope for the best."

Harry and Hermione stand up to shake hands with the PM and then phase back to their home in Crawley.

"How did the meeting go?" Mr. Granger asks when they appear in the entrance hall.

"It went well," Harry answers," The Prime Minister agrees with our goals and I believe we will have the Queen on our side soon."

"That's excellent news," Mrs. Granger says," What's next?"

"We have the Wizengamot session to start in a couple of days where we want to make a speech, then, we can go on vacation to anywhere you want to go." Hermione answers," After that is the Quidditch World Cup where you will see what a sport played on brooms is like."

"That is something I am looking forward to," Mr. Granger says as he is an avid sports fan.

"I think you will like it dad," Harry says," It is very fast paced and exciting to watch. Our school games are fun to go to where Hermione and I cheer for the teams and have fun with our friends."

ooOOoo

Soon it is the first of July and the Wizengamot session for this summer is to begin. Harry and Hermione morph into their Panthera personas, complete with their black robes with the stylish "P" on the right side along with a Phoenix crest on the left. With their hoods up, concealing their faces, they phase to the atrium of the magical ministry. Everyone watches as the tall couple makes their way to the chambers where new laws are made, wondering who they are. They walk in and take seats in the gallery to wait for the session to start.

"Hear ye Hear ye," The scribe announces," All rise for the honorable Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock."

Albus walks in through a side door and takes the center seat at the high table. He bangs his gavel on the table and says:

"Thank you scribe, please sit and take heed."

The scribe sits at the end of the table with parchment and ink pot, quill ready.

"We have several new bills to debate and laws that need repealing." Abus states," Is there any new business to bring forth?"

The tall couple stands up, getting everyone's attention. A wooden rod shoots into each of their right hands which promptly turn into very ornate staffs. The staffs each have a white jewel held by the points of a star inside a circle. The couple rise up and fly down to the main floor of the chamber. Everyone in the room can feel the power radiating off the couple.

"We would like to speak to this august body," The male declares.

Albus looks at them knowing who they are but playing along.

"Who might you be," He asks," and what business do you bring before us?"

The couple release their staves to stand silently next to them as they reach up and pull their hoods back, revealing a man and woman of indeterminate age with blond hair, blue eyes and handsome features.

"We are the Pantheras, Hunters for truth and justice," They declare in unison.

"I am called Hunter," The male says.

"And I am called Huntress," The female says.

"We were sent here by the Creator of all things to aid the Elders of the Universe in their quest to unify this planet as a whole and protect the world from evil." Hunter says," We came here today to give a warning and bring news."

"What is your warning and what is the news you bring?" Albus asks. He hadn't heard anything new and is wondering what is going on.

"The wraith that calls himself Lord Voldemort is back in this country. There are people in this room that are loyal to this so called dark lord and are plotting ways to help him get a new body," Hunter informs them," He cannot be allowed to return to power. He will expose the magical world to the general mundane population, which we are not ready for yet."

Umbridge just can't keep her mouth shut.

"You mean muggles?" she snarls," They are just animals and should all be exterminated."

There are nods from several Wizengamot members when she says this. One of Voldemort's supporters decides it is time to end this farce.

"Avada Kedavra," He yells out as he points his wand at the couple.

Everyone gasps and ducks behind their railings as the Green light flashes at high speed towards the pair. Faster than the eye can follow both of them pull and ignite their light sabers deflecting the curse towards the ceiling where a big chunk of it is blown out causing debris to rain down on the members. The guilty party is quickly subdued by the members around him and brought down to the floor. The doors burst open and Aurors flood into the room as alarms go off after the firing of an unforgivable curse in the chamber. They quickly cuff the perpetrator and haul him off while giving the Panteras, with their glowing swords, a wide berth. Now that the excitement is over the pair shut their sabers off and rehang them on their belts.

"You just saw a demonstration of mundane technology," Huntress says," Our energy swords are able to deflect the killing curse which we understand is supposed to be unstoppable. Mundane science can do just about anything magic can do with a few exceptions and those exceptions are only because Earth technology is not up to par with the intergalactic community. The mundane governments of every country on Earth know about the magical world. The general population does not. You survive as a people because they allow it. If Voldemort comes to power again, he will start to kill indiscriminately and expose us as a threat. If the threat is determined to be large enough their science could be used to capture one of you and find out what makes you different. They could then develop a biological weapon that would attack only people with magic and either kill you all or take your magic away. It wouldn't matter to them."

"All the more reason to exterminate the muggle animals then," Umbridge says getting agreement from some of the members.

"How would we go about that pray tell," Huntress shoots back at her," The magical community in Britain numbers approximately three to five thousand witches and wizards for the whole country. The population of London alone numbers around six and a half million. We wouldn't stand a chance if they become determined to exterminate us. Let me show you how the so called animals ended world war two."

She picks her staff up and points it towards the open area in front of the head table. A beam of white light emits from the jewel in her staff and a three dimensional holographic image manifests itself in the air.

"This is an image of Nagasaki, Japan in 1945. The civilian population was just starting their day without a care in the world despite the war. Children were getting ready for school and the adults for work. Mothers were hanging their laundry to dry in the nice warm air," Huntress states.

As they watch the people of the city starting their day, all of a sudden there comes a very bright flash of light and then intense heat and winds. When the light clears and everyone can see again, they see the whole city flattened into rubble.

"This was the second city to be destroyed by what is called an atomic bomb. One single bomb dropped from an airplane thirty thousand feet in the air did this. Now they have bombs thousands of times more powerful than that one that can be delivered by rockets from the other side of the planet. Muggles have put men on the moon and have walked on Mars. About the only thing they can't do that we can is fly brooms and disapperate. They don't need brooms to fly because of their airplanes and eventually they will invent transporter technology which will do the same thing as disapperation. In the grand scheme of things, Voldemort is nothing more than a half blood thug with delusions of grandeur. He will be taken care of when the time is right. So you see madam that the muggle animals as you call them are far too numerous and advanced technologically for the magical world to even make a dent. We would be wiped out. **That** is the reason for the Statute of Secrecy, to protect **us** from them, **not** the other way around."

Madam Umbridge sits back with wide eyes after viewing the hologram. Her small mind is in turmoil and she doesn't believe the images are real. She decides that they are made up images meant to scare her into changing her mind, gets a calculating look on her face and just sits back.

"_Stupid muggle loving fools," _She thinks_," I'll show them. Just you wait and see." _

Just as she sits back, the Potters phase into the room.

"Sorry we're late," Harry says," We just got back from a trip to Mars and had to drop the astronauts off on the International Space Station. Did we miss anything?"

Umbridge squeaks and faints from information overload, slumping back in her chair.

Harry looks over at her," What's wrong with her?"

Albus chuckles at the irony of his statement and her reaction to it and says," The Panteras were explaining to her about the non-magical people's technology and apparently she didn't believe them. Then you show up and with the statement you just made confirming what was said."

The Potters shrug their shoulders and look over at the Panteras.

"Hello Hunter and Huntress." Harry greets them," Mission accomplished then. Can you come outside with us for a minute? We have a reconnaissance mission for you."

"Yes sir," They say in unison and then follow the Potters out the doors.

"We'll be right back Chief Warlock. We cede the floor back to you and will observe from our usual seats in the gallery." Harry says.

"Very well Elder," Albus responds and with a bang of his gavel proceeds to bring up the first bill for discussion. The Elders resume their seats in the gallery with no one the wiser on their duplicity about the elders and the Pantheras being separate people.

Minister Fudge revives his Under Secretary and tells her to behave. She settles down and pays attention to the proceedings, occasionally giving her opinion whether it is wanted or not. Harry and Hermione watch Ms. Umbridge and can tell they failed to get through to her.

"_You think if we showed her the ship she would change her mind?" _Harry thinks to Hermione.

"_I don't know Harry,"_ she thinks back_," It wouldn't hurt to try. We could always remove the memory if she can't handle it."_

"_Okay, let's give them the tour after the session is over" _Harry thinks back.

They settle in for the rest of the session with some new equal rights laws passed and old prejudicial laws repealed such as the warewolf restrictions being lifted. It will now be legal for them to hold jobs as long as they register with the ministry and take the ministry provided wolfsbain potion on the night of the full moon. They will now be treated as a people with an incurable, but controllable disease. This gets a standing ovation from quite a few of the light sided members of the Wizengamot and gallery. Madam Umbridge has a scowl on her face but can't do anything about it and accepts defeat gracefully. Eventually the session winds down for the summer and as the gavel is banged for the last time, the session ends. Harry and Hermione approaches the Minister and his Undersecretary.

"Minister, Madam Umbridge, can we have a moment of your time," Hermione asks?

The pair stop and turn around. The minister is curious while his Undersecretary is impatient to leave.

"What can we do for you Majesties," He asks?

"We noticed Madam Umbridge is having trouble believing us about mundane science," Hermione says," We would like to give her a tour of our ship and wondered if you would like to come along."

"Where is this ship you are talking about? Is it in the harbor," He asks," I would love a tour as I have a love of sailing."

"Not exactly, but we think you will enjoy the view once you get used to it," Harry says," this tour is to bring home to Madam Umbridge what science can do."

"It's perfectly safe," Hermione adds.

"I still say muggles are animals," Madam Umbridge says," They breed like cattle."

"That is because their life expectancy averages out to about seventy five years," Hermione says," They don't have magic to sustain longevity like we do. A witch or wizard with a very strong magical core can live between two and three hundred years barring illness and accidents, while the average witch and wizard lives about two hundred years. Because of our long life spans change comes slow to the magical world. The trouble with this is the non-magicals are progressing so rapidly that they will discover us within the next hundred years if we don't find a way to make ourselves a non-threat to them."

"Show us," Fudge says.

Harry takes Fudge while Hermione takes Umbridge by the arm and phases them up to the ship. When they materialize Madam Umbridge freezes up when she looks out the window.

"How high up are we," Fudge asks in wonder?

"We are about three hundred kilometers above the surface of the planet," Hermione answers," This is the bridge of our ship, which we call The Phoenix. She is two hundred meters across and the central dome is about the equivalent to an eight story office building in height. Let's go down to our office."

The Minister and Undersecretary follow the Elders to the lift where they go down to the saucer level and then move sideways to get to the section nearest the Captain's office. The group exits the lift and walks a few feet down a curved corridor to a door which slides open automatically at their approach. They enter the room and sit at a conference table. Hermione touches a control pad and the computer screen comes to life, showing the Earth below.

"This is what I wanted to show you," Hermione says.

She touches a few more lit pads on the table and the screen changes and zooms in to show England.

"This is what England looks like from orbit." She says," You may have seen pictures in a book."

They both nod at her saying they knew what England looked like.

"Okay, here's what will happen in the very near future if we don't do something soon."

She touches a few more pads and the screen zooms further in and show Diagon Alley. As they watch, she zooms in a little further and they can see individual witches and wizards going about their business.

"That's Diagon Alley in London," Hermione says," Watch this."

She touches a few more pads and the scene changes to show Camelot, along with the village of Hogsmead.

Fudge and Umbridge are starting to panic.

"That's not supposed to be possible," Fudge says," Warded areas aren't supposed to show up on muggle screens."

"You are correct Minister," Harry says," Current mundane technology does not see warded areas. If they were specifically looking for us they would just see blank areas on their screens. Sections of the non-magical governments know where the blank spots are and have them mapped."

Hermione continues. "This ship is very advanced and was manufactured at a shipyard orbiting another planet in the Intergalactic Community of Planets. We can see through the wards to see what is there. You have nothing to worry about being exposed by us or other ships like this one. On the other planets in the Community, magic and mundane peoples are mixed and live together in harmony. Regular witches and wizards are called Mages and a few reach the rank of Elder. This could be compared to you two being Mages as you are a normal, average powered witch and wizard, while Albus Dumbledore would be an Elder because of his great power and wisdom. Elders go on to represent the world they are from in their version of the Wizengamot, which represents multiple planets."

"What's this got to do with us?" Umbridge asks," I understand how our government works in England."

"That **is** the point, except on a much larger scale," Hermione explains," The human race, mostly non-magical humans like the ones you call animals, are living on more planets than you can count. If we don't start to intermix with the non-magical population of this world, in such a way as to be non-threatening, we won't survive. Harry and I have already begun the process of integrating magic with their technology in America. We are using runic arrays to power medical devices such as hospital beds, chairs for the crippled and eventually vehicles. We will slowly show the non-magical world that magic has great potential for good and they will come to accept it in a way that won't be detrimental to our world."

"I think I understand what you are doing," Fudge says thinking," You are going to insure that when they do discover us they will already be using items powered by magic to show there is no reason to fear us."

"That is correct," Hermione says," we are going to show what magic actually is."

"What would that be?" Umbridge asks," Magic has always been."

"That is true because magic is, for a lack of a better term, an energy field around the planet that is created by life itself. As long as life thrives on the planet we will have magic." Hermione continues," witches and wizards have an extra gene in their DNA that allows them to manipulate this field and make use of it. That is the only difference between us and the non-magical people. As I said before, with this difference and our longer life spans, change comes slow to the magical world. The life expectancy of a non-magical person on this planet is about seventy five years. They retire by the age of sixty five, while we are just getting started good, so they are driven to prove themselves to others and to make something of their lives. This is the reason their technology has advanced as much as it has. We have a finite time before the Statute of Secrecy becomes obsolete."

"We hope you understand this lesson well Madam Umbridge," Harry states," Because while you may be an excellent administrator for Minister Fudge, there is no place in this world for your prejudices."

"I understand sire," she says," I will try to keep them under control. I had a bad experience with muggles when I was young."

"I can sympathize with you Madam," Harry says," Hermione and I both had our share of bad experiences with them when we were younger as well. Just remember, they have their good guys and bad guys, same as us, only there are more of them. The average non-magical person is the same as the average witch or wizard, they just want to be left alone to go about their lives like everyone else."

"If you two will stand we will take you back to your office," Hermione says.

Minister Fudge and Madam Umbridge stand so Harry and Hermione can grab an arm for transport, phasing them back to the Minister's office.

"Have a good evening you two," Harry says just before him and Hermione phase to their home.

"Do you think the lesson took," Hermione asks?

"Only time will tell," Harry says," Only time will tell."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **Last part of summer before returning to the magical world.

**Chapter 44: A Trip to China and fixing another of the world's problems**

After phasing back to their home from dropping the Minister and his assistant at the Ministry, the Potters and Grangers sit around the kitchen table for a sumptuous meal prepared by Jeeves and then retire to the sitting room for evening family time.

"How did your meeting with the Minister go Harry," Mr. Granger asks?

"We think the Minister understood what we were trying to teach," he says," But we're not sure we got through to Madam Umbridge. She mentioned a bad experience with some non-magicals when she was young and we're guessing she was traumatized pretty badly. We're hoping she will at least tone it down a bit. She really is good at her job and would hate to see her fired over doing something stupid because of her prejudices."

"We will be watching her to see if she changes," Hermione says," Now, to change the subject, Harry and I were thinking of going to China for vacation this summer. We own a villa in Beijing and we could all go see the Great Wall of China and cruise on the Yangtze River. We also own a smelting plant where Steel and other metals are processed from the raw ore materials. We are going to convert it to start producing Trinium. We said we would give the formula for this metal to all of the major countries and China is the only one left we haven't talked to."

"That sounds wonderful," Mrs. Granger exclaims," I've wanted to see the Great Wall of China since I was a little girl. It is amazing to think someone built a single wall that is over five thousand miles long. Can you imagine the how long it took to build. I can't wait to see it."

ooOOoo

The next morning the family goes to Gringotts to arrange for an international port key to China, along with arranging the China Wall tour and the cruise on the river. Once in China, either Harry or Hermione will be able to make their own port key to get back, just like they did in America. After leaving Gringotts the family phase back to the Granger residence to pack for the trip scheduled for that evening at eleven. Earlier, Hermione bought some potion from the apothecary to make up for the time difference of eight hours between England and China to help prevent the phenomenon known as jet lag from ruining their first day there. At half ten the family phases to Heathrow International Airport, where the port key terminal is located and make their way through the customs station to the terminal. They are given an old newspaper and at precisely eleven o'clock PM the port key activates, taking just forty five seconds to travel half way around the world. Once arriving at the Beijing terminal the family proceeds through customs and exit the main terminal building. They hire a cab to take them to the villa so they can get settled in and acclimated to the new day that is just starting. As soon as the door is shut a house elf pops in and greets them.

"Welcomes to Beijing Masters and Mistress," He says with a bow.

Harry looks over at Hermione then back at the elf and asks," What is your name and would you like to bond with us as family? We have found this will break the curse you are under and return you to your proper self. Are there any more elves here?"

The house elf looks up at him with wide eyes and says," My name is Tam and I woulds be honored to bonds with yous as family. There are four more here in the house; I will gets them."

With that he pops away and returns almost immediately with the other elves. Harry and Hermione go through the procedure and soon all of the elves in the house are returned to their rightful appearance.

When they are finished, Tam bows to the couple while the other elves return to their duties.

"What is your first order Master," Tam asks?

"Well," Harry says," We could do with a tour of the house and if you can, we would like to know about the steel mill we own."

Tam leads them around the house showing where everything is, explaining as they go.

"The house, as you can see, is a two story home in the traditional Chinese pagoda style with the curved up corners of the roof. The ground floor has the kitchen, a formal dining area for parties, with a kitchen dining area for regular meals. The master bedroom is on the ground floor with a connecting door to the master's office. The rest of the floor has a library with all of the books about Chinese magic, which goes back further than Britain's by the way, and copies of the Potter family books which are restricted to family members only. The second floor has six bedrooms and a game room, very similar to your house in Glendale."

"How do you know about the house in Glendale," Hermione asks?

"I didn't before you came here. The knowledge was given to me when we bonded as family." Tam answers," That is how elf magic works. As you bring each elf into your family, we gain the knowledge needed to serve you best and are ready to come to you no matter where in the world you are. Once you have bonded all of your elves you will have instant access to any property you own for anything you need without having to go there yourself."

"That would be very useful for research projects and the like," Hermione says thoughtfully.

"What can you tell us about the steel mill," Harry asks?

"This will be another example of what bonding as family means to us elves. Before you bonded me I had no knowledge of a steel mill. All I knew was this house." He answers while thinking," The steel mill is in the industrial district and employs thousands of people. I can arrange for a tour if you want My Lord. The manager is a wizard hired by your grandfather when he bought the mill."

"That would be acceptable," Harry says.

Tam leads the Potters and Grangers into the master's office and picks up the phone. He dials a number and when the phone is answered on the other end he starts speaking Chinese into it. After a short conversation he hangs up and turns to the Potters.

"They are sending a car now," He explains.

"Want to see how steel is made," Harry asks his in-laws?

"We would like that very much," Mr. Granger agrees.

"Hold your watch arms out," Harry asks.

They hold out their arms with the watches on them and Harry places his hand on his father in-laws while Hermione places her hand on her mother's watch. Their hands take on a soft yellow glow for a few moments.

When the glow stops Harry says," Now your watches will act as translators for you. This will work for any language, allowing you to hear in your minds what is being said in English while the person you are speaking to will hear their own language when you speak to them. I wish I had thought of this earlier but this is the first time we have gone somewhere needing it."

"That's fine son," Mr. Granger says," This will come in handy in our business as well. Now we can take clients of all nationalities."

While they are talking, a black sedan drives up to the front of the manor house, where the driver gets out to ring the door chime. Tam answers the door and admits the driver to the entrance hall. Harry and family walk up and shake hands with the driver and follow him to the car where they climb in the back for the trip to the mill. Upon arrival they are met by the general manager of the mill and taken into his office.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last Mr. Potter," the manager says," What brought you all the way to China"

"Actually, this mill is what brought us here," Harry answers," It is on a list of our holdings from around the world. We wanted to check it out and also have a few changes we want to make."

The manager gets nervous when he hears that and asks," What changes did you have in mind? We are pulling our own, despite the economy."

Harry gets up and locks the door and surreptitiously waves his hand, cutting off all listening devices and casting privacy charms. The manager feels the wards going up and gets even more nervous.

"Okay, now we can talk," Harry says," We know you are a wizard so let us introduce ourselves properly."

Harry and Hermione stand up and morph into their Panteras personas and then morph back again.

"You may have seen us on the news and heard about us. What we just did was to morph into our public personas which we call The Panteras, which is Greek for hunter. I go by Hunter while my wife goes by Huntress. We are the Elders of the Universe, sent by the Creator to fix our planet."

"What we want you to do is to retool the mill to produce Trinium as the main product," Hermione says.

"What's Trinium," the manager asks?

Harry picks up a sample of steel on display in the corner of the office and converts it to Trinium by changing its molecular structure. The piece glows for a few seconds and he sets it back down.

The manager looks at him incredulously.

"That piece weighs in at three hundred kilos," he says.

"It now weighs one hundred ten," Harry says," It has been converted into Trinium; the most durable metal in the universe. It is easy to form into shapes and can be made into wire. The wire is a perfect conductor of electricity with no loss due to resistance. We have already given this to the Americans and the Russians. It can be made into anything steel and aluminum is used in. Once it is formed, it becomes indestructible. Special tools are needed to weld the parts together, but are easily made with current technology."

Hermione hands him a book with everything he needs to get started, including the formula and specs for the metal. The book also includes how to make the tools needed to work the metal and assemble parts made from Trinium together.

"Everything you need to know is in there," Hermione says indicating the book," This will revolutionize the steel industry on this planet. We want you to start on this right away and when you are up and running full time, it is okay to leak this information to the government. You will be surprised how much your business increases once you start producing. Get your scientists to test the sample if you want proof. Try cutting that sample Harry just converted with a standard cutting torch and see what happens. You will find it barely gets warm."

The manager raises an eyebrow at this and vows to do just that as soon as they leave.

"I have arranged a tour of the main steel facility for you and your family," he says while getting up to a knock on his door.

Harry dismisses the wards, allowing the manager to open the door for the person giving the tour. The family is taken around the facility, getting to see how steel is made and come to an understanding of just how big a steel mill is. After the tour they meet with the manager once more before returning to the manor.

The next morning the family gathers in the kitchen for breakfast and to plan the day.

"Dad and Mum," Hermione starts off," Harry and I are going to make a short trip today since we are here."

"What's on your mind?" Mr. Granger asks, knowing their children very well.

"We are going as Elders to the government center to try and speak to the Central Chairman," Harry responds," We want to see if they would be willing to talk to the North Koreans for us. We don't want to have to repeat our actions in Iraq if we can avoid it. They are having a general meeting today and we want to show ourselves to them as Elders. Mainly to let them know we can show up anywhere we are needed or when they least expect us."

"You know how we feel about you son," Mr. Granger says with a smile," We'll just sit here and worry like good parents do."

"You two have nothing to worry about," Hermione says," When we get back we'll go check out the Great Wall."

"Be careful," Mrs. Granger says.

"We will," Hermione answers and gives them both a hug.

After changing into their Consular robes, complete with light sabers, the pair disillusions themselves and flies through the front door. They proceed over towards the west side of the city, where they reappear and start flying towards the government center, very visible to the population. When they arrive at the main building where the general meetings are held, everyone that is outside stops to watch as they alight in the main courtyard. The pair walks hand in hand up the steps to the main doors, which open on their own as they approach. The doors are not normally automatic so this gets people attention as well. They turn down the main hall with people parting and giving them room as they walk. In the main chamber all of the party members have just taken their seats to get started when the doors open and the pair walks in. The party members all look on silently as the couple walks to the front of the chamber to stand in front of the leaders of the Central Committee.

The chairman looks at the pair and says in English," We have heard of you Elders, through our contacts in other countries. Why are you here and what do you want of us?"

"We are actually here on vacation in your wonderful country and heard you were having a full meeting of the assembly today," Harry says in flawless Chinese.

This brings a smile to the chairman's face at his words.

"We came to give your country the gift of the metal Trinium and to also ask a favor," Harry says.

"We have also heard of this metal and we are curious about it. Perhaps you can enlighten us?" the chairman asks," Please tell us what favor you ask of us."

Hermione explains," If you have heard about Trinium, then you probably already know what the metal is about. We gave the formula and the instructions for retooling to one of the steel mills here in the city. Once they have the process done and working, they will start producing the metal for your countries use. We instructed them to give your government the specs and procedures for producing the metal once they have the process down. Doing it in this manor, will assure that when they give you the information, you will have a full understanding of how to make it work, making the retooling of other mills run smoothly and efficiently. This metal will bring a very large boost to your economy, making China one of the three major producers of Trinium in the world, with the other two being America and Russia."

"That sounds very good," The chairman says," We were wondering if we were going to be left out in the cold."

"That will never happen," Harry says," We are the Elders of the Universe. We are also the Elders for Planet Earth, the whole planet. We will be here long after all of you have turned into dust and your descendants are sitting in these chairs. We may look like young teenagers to you, but we are actually both sixty four years old and have helped rebuild the economy for a whole galaxy, so we know from experience what is needed for our planet."

"**Our** planet," one of the Vice Chairman's asks?

"Yes," Hermione says," Earth is our home. We were born here and will be here as long as it takes to get the planet in shape to join the Intergalactic Community of Planets."

"What favor do you ask of us," the Chairman asks?

"We know China has trade relations with North Korea. The world looks at you like you are their big brothers. Whether you are or not is not the issue. What we would like for you to do is deliver a message for us through your diplomatic channels," Harry says.

"What message would that be," the Chairman asks?

"We will show you what we have observed," Harry says.

With a wave of his hand the lights in the auditorium dim to a soft glow. Harry and Hermione hold out their right arms and with a quick flick of their wrists short sticks shoot out into their hands, expanding into ornate staffs with jewels at the top. From these jewels a white beam of light shoots out and forms a hologram of the planet Earth in three dimensions. The planet rotates around and expands out to a flat map of the planet's surface so everyone in the auditorium could see the image. The map shows what the planet looks like from space at night, showing all of the bright lights of the cities and populated areas of the world. From there it zooms into the area showing China, along with the Korean peninsula and the Japanese Islands.

"If you were a space visitor from another planet and had never visited Earth before," Harry starts to explain," You might be amazed at all of the lights coming from the surface. Although all civilized planets look similar to this at night. If you look at the Korean peninsula, as a traveler with no knowledge of our planet, you might think that South Korea is just another island surround by ocean until you get close enough to see the land."

"The North Korean leadership is suppressing their people and spending millions on building up their armed forces while allowing the general population to slowly starve to death." Hermione continues," We plan to show them the error of their ways. We don't have a problem with them requiring their young men to spend time in the military as it teaches the men discipline and how to live on their own away from their parents. We do have a problem with the leadership living a lavish lifestyle while developing nuclear technology. They have no need for nuclear weapons technology and we will not allow them to develop it any further. It serves no purpose for them to have this technology, other than to boost the egos of those in power. We would rather see them use all of this money to develop an economy that can support their people with jobs and put food in their bellies."

Harry takes over, "What we would like you to do is give them a warning from us. You saw what we did to the leadership in Iraq. We would rather not do that to them. You can tell them we are coming to give a demonstration of our power. We are going to completely remove the demilitarized zone between the north and south parts of the peninsula. They can send as many soldiers as they want. It will not matter. They will just be sent back home. No one will be hurt, but the stretch of land will be bare of fences and any other obstacles dividing the north from the south. If they don't start working **for** the people, as the name 'Democratic People's Republic of Korea' implies, then we will have no choice but to exile the leaders, just like we did for Saddam Hussein. He is now enjoying life on another planet fifteen light years from Earth, setting up a colony of his followers, where he can no longer be a threat to this planet. We told the planet in our message from France that we will be ruthless towards any aggressor that uses weapons of mass destruction and Saddam had already tried genocide on his own people."

"Just to put your minds at ease," Hermione says," We may reside in a western country but we don't have a problem with your form of government. We are not here to force democracy on anyone. We are here to bring peace to the entire planet, while making sure it's peoples is able to make a decent wage to feed their families and live in comfort. That is a basic right for every member of the Intergalactic Community."

Harry conjures a mirror watch to give to the Chairman.

"Contact us with this," Harry says handing him the watch," push the button on the side and look into the mirror. My call sign is Hunter. You will see a different face, as everyone doesn't know our true faces yet. This is what we will look like."

They morph into their Panteras personas, to the amazement of the Chairman and general assembly.

"In one week from today," Hunter says," You will see our demonstration. They have that long to respond to our ultimatum."

With that said the Potters phase out of the auditorium to the front courtyard, where they take to the air to fly back the way they came. Once at the edge of the city they disillusion themselves for the rest of the flight back to their manor.

Back at the General Assembly the Chairman gives the order for their diplomats to contact the North Korean government to pass on the warning. He also orders observers to be on hand to watch and film everything discreetly. Harry and Hermione also contact the British Prime Minister to pass on the warning to the South Koreans as well. Even though the south is more civilized and open than the north, the two countries are still technically at war. The Potters are determined to put an end to that by making the two sides come to an agreement. Hopefully stopping all of the foolish posturing by the north.

Harry and Hermione alight on the front porch of their manor and reappear as Tam opens the door for them to enter. They enter the foyer area to be met by their parents where they then retire to the kitchen for dinner.

"How did your meeting go," Mr. Granger asks," Did you actually get in to see the Chairman of the People's Republic of China?"

"Yes we did," Hermione says," We just walked in as if we owned the place and nobody stopped or questioned us."

"It might have been the effect of doors opening as we approached, or our robes, or our flying in and landing outside," Harry adds with a grin.

"Yes," Hermione agrees, grinning back," there was that, but I like to think it was our air of confidence in ourselves, along with our calm manner that got their attention."

"Alright you two," Mrs. Granger says," quit trying to one up each other and tell us what happened."

"Well, as I was trying to say," Hermione says while looking at Harry," We walked in like we owned the place and apparently the Chairman recognized our robes, because he did not call for security or anything. He just asked us in English what we wanted. When we answered him in flawless Chinese he just smiled at us and we were home free. We explained about Trinium and also asked for help passing a message to the North Koreans about something we have planned."

"What would that be," Mr. Granger asks?

"As you know, the two Koreas only signed a cease fire agreement." Hermione starts," They are technically still at war with one another. The so called demilitarized zone is actually the most militarized stretch of land in the world. With South Korea prospering and the North slowly starving to death due to their oppressive government, it is only a matter of time before an unexpected incident sparks a restarting of the war. There are too many guns and too much distrust aimed at each other for things to stay as they are. The north has such a massive army built up for such a small country we are concerned they are gearing up for an invasion of the south. We sent them an ultimatum. They have until the end of the week to start talks about ending the war or we will end it for them."

"How will you manage that," Mr. Granger asks?

"That's for us to know and you to find out," Harry says," Are you two claustrophobic?"

The Grangers look at each other and shake their heads.

"Not that we know of; why do you ask," Mr. Granger asks?

"Would you like to come aboard our ship?" Hermione asks hopefully," We are going to need it to accomplish our task. You could be observers to what we are going to do. You could even meet the astronauts on the space station."

The Grangers look at each other in surprise and then smile real big at the idea of getting to go to outer space.

"We'd love to," Mrs. Granger says happily," That's another dream of mine from my childhoodl."

"Me too," Mr. Granger says.

"Okay, let's proceed with the river cruise and trip to the China wall and see what happens with the ultimatum." Harry says.

After dinner they family retired to the game room for a few rounds of Snooker and pool before going to bed for the night. The next morning, after breakfast, the family port keys down to the Yangtze River port key facility and takes a taxi ride to the cruise boat they are going to take up the river. The trip is one day up and one day back. They take lots of pictures of the sights along the way. After the cruise is over, the family ports back to the manor for the night, then on to the Great Wall the next day. All in all it is a very enjoyable week for the family. Finally, the deadline for the ultimatum has come and passed with no response from either side of the DMZ.

"Looks like we will have to prove ourselves once again," Harry says to Hermione as they are eating breakfast the next day.

She agrees and the couple goes up to their room to change into their Consular robes for the next phase of their trip. They shrink their luggage and say goodbye to Tam and the staff before taking the Grangers by the arm and phasing up to the Phoenix, which is in orbit adjacent to the IS Station. The family phases into the Potter's stateroom, where they proceed to give a tour of the ship.

"This looks just like being on the Enterprise in Star Trek," Mr. Granger comments as they walk along the curved corridor towards the lift."

"Pretty much," Hermione says, "However, as you will see in a minute, you are actually in the saucer section of a nineteen fifties science fiction style flying saucer."

They enter the lift, which takes them first sideways and then up to the bridge of the ship. When they step out of the lift, the Grangers look out the windows and see the curvature of the Earth below them. They both gasp in wonder, getting the attention of the scientists, working at their stations. The astronauts walk over to greet them.

"Hello Elders," The American commander says," It's good to see you again."

"Thank you," Harry says while indicating the Grangers," these are my in-laws, Dr. George and Dr. Helen Granger. They are both dentist of the highest caliper and have a private practice in England."

"I've heard of you," one of the other scientists says," I have a cousin that is a dentist and he has only good things to say about you."

"Thank you," Mr. Granger says.

Hermione addresses the group," We are going to need the ship for a few hours today. We are going to end the conflict between North and South Korea today one way or another and would like one American, along with one Russian observer to witness what we are going to do so you can report first hand to your superiors. We have already told China's Chairman, who is sending his own observers to watch and sent an ultimatum to both Koreas, which was ignored."

"Okay, let us call our superiors to get permission, then decide who is best to go with you." The American commander says.

The astronauts gather around the communications station where they make the call to their superiors and then return to where the potter and Grangers are standing.

The commander speaks up for the group," We would all like to go. It will give us a chance to operate the Phoenix again, which we enjoyed immensely, along with freeing both of you to do what you need to. Besides, one of the scientists is from Japan and she has a vested interest in seeing this threat dealt with.

Harry takes command," Right, everyone to their stations."

The Grangers are impressed with how all of the astronauts immediately follow his order and take their stations while they follow Harry and Hermione to their command chairs. Hermione touches a pad on her console and two seats rise up out of the floor for the Grangers to sit in, one on either side of Harry and Hermione. Mr. Granger sits next to Harry, while her mother sits next to Hermione. Both look on with rapt attention as everything gets under way. They hear an increase in the background humming noise as they see a glow start to show around the edges of the disk of the saucer section. The umbilical is retracted into the ship and the decent is started.

"Take us down to the east border with China, just inside the North Korean boarder next to the sea." Hermione commands.

"Yes ma'am," Navigator Chenka answers.

The Grangers observe as a blue shield snaps into place around the Phoenix as they descend into the atmosphere.

The Potter's decide not to cloak the ship as they want the whole world to witness what is going to happen. It's a moot point anyway, as amateur astronomers around the world have been observing the disk shaped object docked next to the space station through their binoculars for months. The object, now moving, is bound to catch the attention of a few of those astronomers, who will tell their friends etc.

The Phoenix descends to the coordinates Hermione entered into the computer for the navigator and hovers above the area just inland from the shore and just inside the border. Harry and Hermione enter the lift and descend to the cargo hold where they find five obelisks waiting for them. They waste no time as cargo door appear in the side of the ship large enough to offload one of the obelisks, which is ten meters in height. They levitate the obelisk and plant it in the ground at the set coordinates, expand their staves to activate the obelisk, then and return to the ship. This process is repeated at the western coast border with China and at both ends of the DMZ. For show, the ship flies low and fast between the fences of the DMZ along the four kilometer wide strip of land. As they pass, the fences, road blocks and observation towers disappear, leaving the area wide open. Army observers on both sides watch as the ship passes between them, not knowing what to think. When the forth obelisk is set on the eastern end of the DMZ, the ship ascends to five thousand feet and accelerates with a sonic boom towards Pyongyang, the capital city.

In the central part of the city, people are going about their business when they hear a humming noise coming from above them. Looking up they spot a black disk shaped object with a bird painted on the bottom, gliding over them toward the Government Center. At the Center, there is a large statue of the country's leader standing in front of the main building. A small door opens up near the edge of the disk, with a round object descending out of it and hovering about a meter below the door. A blue/white beam of light flashes out from the object and hits the statue, which disintegrates into nothing. The round object re-enters the small door, which closes up. A few seconds later, doors appear on the side of the dome shape in the center of the ship and two beings fly out levitating a large obelisk, which they plant into the ground in the precise location of the statue. The obelisk is twelve meters tall and two meters on a side with four sides. While this is going on, soldiers converge from all directions and surround the pair as they work. The two beings expand their staves, ignoring the soldiers who had ordered them to stop what they are doing, and insert them into the slots made for them. As soon as the staves are inserted into the slots the obelisk is activated, causing a bright blue beam of light to shoot skywards to about ten thousand feet where it spreads out in all directions. The soldiers try to fire their guns as ordered but find they don't work. Along the border of China and along the DMZ a blue shield descends from above and into the ground. All along the border soldiers walk up to the shield to examine it and one or two brave souls reach out to touch it. As soon as they do, they find themselves thrown back about ten feet. A refugee who had been slowly trying to sneak past the guards ran up to the shield and passed right through. Some soldiers that saw him running gave chase and were thrown back by the shield. This was observed by some American soldiers that were on duty and they quickly relayed the information to their commander.

Back at the Government Center, the Elders walk through the cordon of soldiers as if they weren't even there and into the main building to the leader's office, who had been watching from his window.

The leader has been so used to getting his way, being the ultimate power in his country for so long; he did not flinch when they walked in. He sat there at his desk in his military uniform, seething at the audacity of these two young people for interfering in his government.

"What do you want," he asks bluntly?

"Since you have ignored our warning about ending the war with South Korea and helping your own people, we are doing it for you." Harry starts.

"Your army has been rendered inert. None of your weapons will work." Hermione continues," You have no need for such a large standing army other than as a way to employ your young men. You have no need for rockets and missiles to allow you to attack other countries. They will not work either. Importing weapons from other countries will not make any difference. Inside the shield we erected over your country no weapons will work; Period."

"Yes your whole country," Harry continues as the leaders eyes grew wide," You spend millions on your army and weapons, while you let the rest of your country starve to death. Why are your rural areas without power? Where are the electrical lines and irrigation ditches for your farming communities? Why is your vast road network sitting empty because no one can afford cars? There are organizations around the world willing to help with food and technology to ease the suffering of your people. All you have to do is allow it.

Harry pauses for a few seconds," I see you are getting on in years. If you want the world to see you as more that a petty dictator I suggest you follow our orders. The shield will not allow soldiers to pass through, but will allow civilians and non-combatants to pass. There have already been refugees that have passed into China and South Korea in just the past few minutes. When word of this gets out, you may find yourself all alone in this country with only your supporters left behind."

"If you keep ignoring us, the Kim family and all of its supporters will find themselves exiled to another planet in another solar system, just like Saddam Hussein," Hermione states.

"What do you mean," Mr. Kim asks?

"You must not watch much television," Harry says as he points his arm at the wall in front of the desk.

A white beam of light shoots out his palm and hits the wall, showing the events in Iraq as recorded from the news channels. The image shows the ship hovering above the presidential palace and the portal which sent it to another world.

Mr. Kim contemplates what he has seen in the video despite how it was presented.

"I will pass your message to my son, who is out of the country right now in a meeting with one of our allies. I am too old for this, but he will do as I ask." Mr. Kim says.

"We will make sure you get credit for starting the process to rebuild your country," Hermione says," Either the two Koreas will reunite, or your country will climb out of poverty with outside help. It doesn't matter to us if you keep your own sovereignty. The shield stays until we are convinced that our purpose here is accomplished."

"By the way," Harry says," The reason our attention was brought to your country is quite simple. If you look at a map of the world from space at night, you will see your country is totally dark, except for this city. No lights anywhere else. It made us do the research and decide to do something about it as we have the power repair mistakes like this. You will find help is available for the asking. Do something about it."

With that said the pair phase out to the bridge of their ship. "Let's go home," Harry says, disgusted they had to intervene in the first place," Chenka, if you please?"

"Yes sir,"

She responds and then guides the Phoenix back up to the space station when the umbilical is reattached and the ship is powered down to standby mode. After a short tour of the station for the Grangers, and goodbyes to the astronauts, the family phases back to their home in Crawly.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** _While you read this chapter, keep in mind what I wrote about how the dark mark was used to control the people marked. There were controllers for each group or cell of fighters. They had absolute control over their group. While this is not the traditional way HP stories are written about the dark mark, it is perfect for this story. More later._

**Chapter 45: Resolving a family issue and a history lesson.**

The next three days are spent swimming and relaxing by the pool in the back yard. On the fourth day, the family is sitting at the breakfast table when the doorbell rings. Jeeves answers the door and returns to the kitchen with a person in tow.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaims as he gets up to hug his godfather.

"Hello pup," He says to Harry as he gives him a hug and then turns to Hermione to give her one as well.

"Sorry I have been tied up for a while on family business," he says," While talking with mum after you left, I found out a few things and I might need your help for one of them."

"What's going on," Hermione asks?

"Well, you know about Draco's mum being a Black," he asks?

Harry and Hermione nod in the affirmative.

"What you may not know is she has two sisters," Sirius says.

"We know about Andromeda and Bellatrix," Harry says," We are good friends with Cousin Dora."

Sirius nods his head and says," I'm glad you know Andromeda and Dora. I found out something about Bellatrix I didn't know and she is the one I might need your help with."

"What do you mean," Hermione asks," She's still in prison, isn't she?"

"Yes she is, but let me explain a little bit about her," He says," What you don't have any way of knowing is that before she turned seventeen, she was a very happy go lucky witch. She had a very happy demeanor and was easy to get along with. We had a lot of fun growing up together. When she turned seventeen, her father sold her to Rudolfus LeStrange."

Everyone in the room gasps.

"That's barbaric," Helen Granger says.

"I agree with you ma'am," Sirius says," But that practice is still carried out in the magical world, even in today's society."

"It is something we are fighting against through education," Hermione says to her parents.

"At any rate," Sirius explains further," when her father sold her to LeStrange, who is quite a bit older than her, she refused to go. He tried to get her to go willingly; even threatening her with disownment wouldn't change her mind. She wanted to be like her big sister Andromeda and marry for love, for which **she** got disowned and kicked out of the family. As you know, back then the Black family was known for being big supporters of Voldemort and his pureblood agenda. Her father would hear nothing of her complaints, so he and LeStrange performed a binding ritual on her to make her submissive to their will. LeStrange took her home and made her his. He had his way with her and slowly turned her into what she is today."

"That's a sad story Sirius," Harry says," but what can we do about it now? Why bring it up at all?"

"Normally I would agree with you Harry, as she has done some very despicable things as a Death Eater," Sirius says," You have all heard the story of what happened to the Longbottoms?"

"Yes," Hermione says," The stories don't make any sense to us, as when we healed them we found that they weren't tortured into vegetables by the Cruciatus Curse like the papers reported. They had a block on their higher functions. All they could do was eat, sleep and go to the bathroom. They needed help to even do that. We removed the block and healed their bodies from the atrophy that comes from spending too much time in bed and not getting any exercise."

Sirius nods his head in agreement," I was visiting the Longbottoms while you were on vacation and the subject came up. The Cruciatus Curse will drive a person insane from the pain it causes, if exposed to it long enough. Everyone here understands, especially the two doctors, that pain is caused when the nerve endings send a message to the brain that you just got burned or cut with a knife or something else. This causes the body to react, to get you out of the situation where you got hurt and to tell you where on your body you got hurt."

"Yes, that's basic medicine, learned in high school biology class," Mrs. Granger says.

"The block you removed from Frank and Alice was put there by a Black family spell." Sirius continues while agreeing with her," The LeStranges and Crouch Jr. did cast the Cruciatus spell on Frank and Alice; they were caught doing it by Aurors. Bellatrix is the only one of the group that attacked the Longbottoms that evening that could have cast that spell. By casting that spell she saved their lives. With the block in place they would not have felt the curse as it was applied. They wouldn't have felt anything. They went to school together and she was friends with both of them despite being a Slytherin. This makes me think that maybe she had finally fought through the control she was under and tried to save her friend's lives the only way she knew how. Of course she was caught with the rest of the group and sent to Azkaban. She is not allowed visitors, so we don't know whether she is finally free of the effects of the ritual or not."

"What do you want **us** to do," Hermione asks?

"If she **is** free from the control and she did all of those things as a Death Eater under that control. She could get a retrial and set free, as she wasn't acting of her own free will. Sort of like the Imperius Curse, only worse. What you two could do, is talk to her and use your powers to determine if she is truly innocent and is not insane, assuming the dementors haven't driven her there. If you find her guilty, she can stay where she is. If not, you get another member of your family back. She is your second cousin after all, just like me."

"Okay Sirius," Harry says," It won't hurt to at least find out if everything you said is true and if she is innocent **and** repents her ways, we can remove her dark mark and set her free."

"Thanks Harry," Sirius says," After what mum told me about her, I need to know if this is all true as well since I am her Head of House and will either cast her out of the family if she is guilty, or dissolve her marriage to LeStrange if she is innocent. I working to clean up the Black family name. I have already reinstated Andromeda and with Narcissa's divorce, the sisters could all be reunited as one big happy family again."

"Your reasoning is sound and we will help you out in this Sirius," Harry says," If you haven't already, inform Madame Bones and we will proceed to Azkaban to ascertain if you are right."

"Madame Bones has already been informed and she said she would meet us there when you are ready to go," Sirius replies.

They finish their breakfast, then Harry and Hermione go to their room to change into their consular robes for the trip to Azkaban. Upon arriving back downstairs, Harry grabs one of Sirius' arms and the trio phases into the wardens office at the prison, surprising everyone there.

Harry looks over at the warden and commands," Bring Bellatrix LeStrange to the visitors meeting room."

"Yes sir," the warden says, recognizing Harry's authority as King.

Harry and Hermione, followed by Sirius and Madame Bones, walk out the door and down the hall towards the visitor's area. When they get there the group sits on the visitor's side of the table. After waiting for a few minutes, Bellatrix is brought into the room by two guards, one on each side of her. They sit her in the chair across from the Potters and Lord Black. She looks very emaciated and thin with dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes are dull and she has an expression of a person that has resigned herself to the fact that her life is over.

"Hello Bell," Sirius says.

She looks up at him and after a few seconds recognition comes into her eyes," Siri?"

"Yes Bell. I brought someone to see you. I talked to mother and she told me what happened to you. Were you able to throw off the effects of the ritual?"

"Yes, finally, it happened at the Longbottoms. Our group's controller, which happened to be my husband, told us we were going to get revenge for our master by torturing a family. I went along as ordered," she whispers with her head down," No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fight the compulsion. Every time I went on a mission, I tried to fight it. When we arrived I recognized the Longbottom's manor home and tried to fight it even harder. Alice was one of my best friends in school. I couldn't stop the torture from happening but instead of the Cruiciatus, I cast the family spell for stopping the higher brain functions."

"Yes, I know the spell," Sirius says," It was invented by a long lost ancestor during the Inquisition to help torture victims not feel their pain until their body healed."

"That's the one," she says softly," When I saw Alice and Frank lying there with blank looks on their faces, it finally broke the conditioning the ritual put on me and I passed out. By the time I had my full senses back I found myself in a ministry holding cell. At first I couldn't figure out what was going on. Until the memories of what I had done came flooding back to me. I cried until I couldn't cry any more. I felt dirty from what Rudolphus did to me and all of those poor people I was made to torture and then kill. When my trial came I confessed to everything, hoping for a dementors kiss or the veil. I don't deserve to live. Why are you here?"

"She's telling the truth," Hermione says to Sirius and Madame Bones," We can sense no deception. Did you explain to the Longbottoms about how the spell works?"

"Yes. Frank and Alice, along with Neville and his grandmother understand now what Bell actually did and are thankful to be alive and well because of her actions that night." Sirius answers.

"Wait," Bellatrix exclaims, her eyes getting some life back in them," Frank and Alice are okay? They're not dead?"

"No, these two removed the block and healed their bodies," Madame Bones says," Everyone thought they had been tortured into insanity by overexposure to the Cruciatus Curse. The healers couldn't do anything for them, except make them comfortable."

Bellatrix looks at the hooded pair and says," Thank you, family magic prevented me from telling anyone how to undo the block. It has to be removed by a Black family member."

"That may be why we didn't have any trouble removing the block," Harry says," Though we probably could have done it anyway."

"Who are you," Bellatrix asks?

The pair reaches up and pulls back their hoods to reveal their faces.

She gasps, and then smiles, "You're Harry Potter. You look just like James did when he was your age. I'm glad you survived. I didn't know about the attack on your parents until after I was arrested. You had already disappeared, nobody knew where you were. **That's** how you could remove the block. We both have the same great grandfather. You, through Dorea Black who married your grandfather Charlus, and me, through my father and grandfather. That makes us second cousins, allowing you to remove the block."

(AN: Link to the Black family tree . . /_cb57525/harrypotter/images/8/83/Black_Family_ )

"Sirius told me you were my cousin and told us about the ritual you were subjected to," Harry says," We came to see if you needed our help to remove the effects of the ritual. We wanted to observe you, to judge whether any of your crimes were committed voluntarily and to see if you were repentant. We can see that you **are** repentant and did the things you did under compulsion from the effects of the ritual performed on you. We can remove the dark mark from your arm if you so desire."

She gasps again. Only this time they can see hope in her eyes.

"How can you do that? Only the master can do that and it usually means death for anyone who asks," She says," I saw it happen once. It was horrible to watch."

"You probably watched Voldemort leach all of the person's magic and life force." Harry says," The mark is a direct connection to his soul, allowing him to leach from his followers and soldiers. He cares for no one but himself and once marked, it is for life. If he dies, all of his marked followers will die as well."

"We are Elders," Hermione continues," That is how we have the power to remove the mark from anyone that is truly repentant. We set up the wards at Hogwarts to repel anyone with a dark mark that is not repentant. If a marked person can get through the wards, we will remove the mark from their arm. We can do the same for you. It will be painful, but if you are truly repentant you will be okay after a few minutes."

She sticks out her arm immediately upon hearing that.

"Please," she begs.

Harry and Hermione place their hands on the mark and they start to glow. Bellatrix starts to whimper from the pain and grits her teeth to keep from crying out. After a few seconds the mark lifts up from her arm and dissipates. She sits there for a few minutes breathing hard as she regains her composure. She then gets a big smile on her face and starts laughing.

"I feel so light," she says," Like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders. I haven't felt this good for years."

"Professor Snape felt the same way when we removed his mark," Hermione says," He became the best teacher at Hogwarts afterwards."

"Who are you, young lady?" Bellatrix asks," I know Harry, but I've never seen you before."

Harry breaks in and answers proudly taking her hand in his," This is Mrs. Hermione Potter. My wife, since we were eight years old. We soul bonded back then and couldn't be happier."

"Welcome to the family Hermione," Bellatrix says shaking her hand across the table," I'd give you a hug, but that isn't possible right now because of the table and I'm not allowed."

Harry and Hermione stand up and say formally," As magical King and Queen of all Britannia, we judge you to be not responsible for your actions and crimes committed under the influence of the ritual performed on you against your will at the age of seventeen. We further dissolve your marriage to Rudolfus Lestrange as being illegal and forced on you against your will. His vaults at Gringotts are now forfeit and belong to you as compensation for your suffering. Please stand."

Bellatrix stands up on wobbly legs as she can't believe she is finally getting her life back. Harry and Hermione hold out their arms and their staffs shoot into their hands and expand to their full height. Two beams of light shoot out and envelope Bellatrix in a golden glow. She starts to feel energy flowing into her, restoring her body to where it should be for an unmarried woman of her age.

The beams stop and when the glow fades Hermione says: "Since your marriage was forced on you against your will, we have restored your maidenhood. You are now Bellatrix Black, free to find and marry someone for love. Congratulations, you are free to go. I'm sure cousin Narsissa would love to have you stay with her until you get on your feet."

Sirius runs around the table and picks up Bellatrix and swings her around in happiness. This was a lot more than he had hoped for when he asked the Potters to come with him. He sets Bellatrix down and she turns to the Potters and gives and deep curtsy and bow.

"Thank you your majesties," She says," I didn't know we had a King and Queen. I've been out of touch."

"That's okay," Harry says," We don't advertise it around a lot. You are family to us and we are glad we were able to clear you so you can enjoy being with your family again."

Harry turns to Amelia and says," Madame Bones, can you get the parchment work done? We will sign it to make it official. The goblins at Gringotts will already know about the change in vault status."

"Yes Sire," She answers with a bow of her head," It will be done right away."

Just then, alarms started sounding all over the prison.

ooOOoo

A little earlier in the Captain of the Guards office, the captain and two of his guards are discussing the upcoming world quidditch final. The captain is sitting at this desk while the two guards are loitering around his office, waiting to escort Madame Bones back to the boat dock, for her trip back to the ministry. One of the guards leans against a table in the corner that holds spare parchment, quills and other office supplies. Unbeknownst to the occupants of the office the table has been slowly rotting from the inside due to the humidity and salt in the air from being located on a stormy island in the North Sea. Also on this table, in a box, sits the control node for keeping the dementors under control. The node is actually a stone covered in runes which allows certain commands to be given to the dementors, also it keeps them from escaping the island unescorted. This stone has also been affected by the salt air and humidity, becoming brittle after hundreds of years in existence. As the guard shifts his position slightly, while trying to get more comfortable, the front right leg gives way with a loud crack, sending the guard and all of the contents on the table crashing to the floor. As soon as the box with the stone inside hits the floor it shatters, dumping the stone on the floor, which then gets kicked by the other guard coming to the rescue of his friend. It shoots across the floor, hitting the wall on the other side and splitting down the middle into two pieces. The dementor alarm immediately begins to wail.

ooOOoo

No one knows where the dementors originally came from. It seems they have always been here. In the far past they were thought to have been demons that roamed the bogs and moors with a very bad reputation and they became the wizarding worlds version of the boogie man. Every once in a while someone would come across a body lying in a field with glazed over eyes and drooling from its mouth. The body wouldn't respond to anything and if it wasn't dead already it soon would be.

Eventually, a very powerful druid (this was before Merlin's time) stumbled across one and contained it within a stasis shield to study it. He discovered it was a mindless, blind entity that preyed on and amplified negative emotions such as despair and sorrow. He recognized it had tried to suck out his soul and decided he had to contain them somehow. In his travels he had discovered an island in the North Sea that had an old abandoned fortress on it and thought this would be a good place to contain them, as no ever ventured there. It had a reputation for being haunted by the ghosts of those that had died there long ago. The druid constructed a device that broadcast very high feelings of despair and sorrow back toward England. This attracted the dementors from all over the country; it also had the side effect of driving the locals away from the area as well. This suited the druid's purpose just fine as it also enhanced the reputation of the island. It took about a year before the last of the dementors found their way to the island. After several months more of no dementors showing up, the druid was satisfied that he got all of them. He then constructed the control node that confined them to the island and left, feeling he had at least isolated the problem to that single island, whose reputation would keep the locals away.

Another two thousand years passed with no sightings of the mysterious soul suckers before a group of brave wizards discovered the island. The newly formed Ministry for Magic had sent out scouts, looking for a place to build a prison for their worst criminals. They knew of the reputation of the area and thought it might be a good place to search. They could see the silhouette of an island out at sea and pulled out their brooms for a look. As they got closer to the island, the effect of the dementors started to take hold and a couple of the riders barely made it to the island before collapsing from despair. They didn't know about the dementors, but soon found out the hard way as they swarmed out of the fortress, where a couple of the riders were kissed before the group could get away. As the survivors flew away, the leader noticed the creatures had stopped at the edge of the island and weren't pursuing them. As soon as they landed they mounted their horses and returned to the Ministry in London to report their findings.

Over the next couple of years wizards and witches studied the island to figure out how to control the creatures inhabiting it. They figured that to control the negative feeling the creatures generated in humans, they needed something opposite so the spell creators worked on that premise. After another year or two of studying human emotions, the Patronus Charm was invented. They also discovered it took a more powerful than average witch or wizard to be able to cast it. It was decided that the two most powerful wizards and the two most powerful witches of the time would be taught the charm and sent out to the island to try to contain the creatures.

The call went out and several witches and wizards answered. It was decided to have a contest to see who the four would be. The winners of the witches division turned out to be a couple of witches going by the names of Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. Rowena had a reputation of being very smart and fast with her spells. No one would have guessed the power packed into the small unknown plump package that was Helga Hufflepuff. For the men's division, everyone knew popular Godric Gryffindor would win. Tied with Godric was a wizard no one had heard of by the name of Salazar Slytherin, who had an affinity to snakes. Through the tournament, the four young contestants became friends. (This was fifty years before Hogwarts) After the partying was over, the four got down to the business of learning the charm and getting proficient at it. Soon it was time to go to the island.

After a long journey on horseback the four, along with their retainers arrived at the shoreline and made camp. They could see the island across the expanse of water. They decided to rest and relax for a few days before going to the island. The men went hunting while the women prepped the camp for a feast. After a successful hunt, the men returned with a deer, which was skinned and prepared by the retainers. The hide was tanned and the meat prepped for cooking and storing for the journey back. Some was held out for the feast, assuming they were successful on the island.

The trip to the island didn't take long by broom and when they got to the shore they were detected by the dementors who tried to swarm the four. They cast their patronus charms and discovered to their great delight they worked fabulously. The charms took the form of a lion, eagle, badger and snake, driving the dementors back into the fortress. The four pushed on until they got inside. It was Rowena that discovered the control node carved by the druid all those years ago. She cast a diagnostic spell on it that she had invented and discovered how it worked. She informed her companions that the node had been there for over two thousand years already and could be modified so the creatures could be used to guard prisoners if the ministry decided to use the fortress as a prison. They drove the dementors down to the lowest level and locked them there. This would allow others to come and renovate the fortress if it was to be used. She conjured a box and put the node inside. She then conjured a table and set the box on the table. Both table and box had survived the test of time, until today. The over three thousand year old node stone lay on the floor broken.

ooOOoo

The alarm is blaring loudly as the dementors start to swarm up from the depths. Harry and Hermione can sense what is happening and gets up from their chairs.

"Everyone stay here," he instructs, then turns to the guards at the door," Block the door and let nothing in that's not human."

"Yes sir," they say together.

Harry and Hermione phase out into the hallway where the guards are trying to hold off the hoard with their patronus charms. The pair call their energy swords to their hands and ignite them, allowing the pair of green beams to expand out to about a meter.

The guards look on with wide eyes at the swords and one of them asks," What are those?"

"They are called light sabers," Harry answers," They are made from a combination of mundane technology and the force, which is another form of magic. Guard this area. You are going to need new guards when we are finished. It's time we get rid of these menaces to society."

With that said, the pair advance on the dementors with the sabers held out in front. Harry nods to Hermione and with a blur of movement they spring into action. Faster that the guards eyes can follow, the green blades look like blurs of light as they slice through the dementors, who disintegrate into dust as they die. The green blurs move off as the pair progresses through the fortress that is Azkaban Prison. After another half hour and a complete sweep through the prison the Potters appear in the warden's office.

"The dementors have been neutralized," Harry announces to the warden.

"Thank Merlin," the warden exclaims as the tension and worry leaves him," were there any casualties?"

"Probably just some frayed nerves," Hermione says," we took care of the problem, permanently."

"What do you mean," the warden asks," have you found a way to kill them? If you have, you won't get any complaints from me."

"Yes," Harry says," we have powers that can do the job, but we used our light sabers to take care of it instead."

"Light sabers," he asks," what are those?"

Harry and Hermione unclip a long silver cylinder each to show the warden. He takes one from Harry and examines it, then hands it back.

"How does it work," he asks?

Harry and Hermione both ignite their sabers and long green tubes of light extend out from the cylinders with a snap/hiss sound.

"These are called light sabers by the Jedi Knights in the galaxy where they were invented." Hermione explains," What they are, are swords made of pure energy. This is what you would call muggle technology, though we prefer the word mundane. It also takes an understanding of the force, which is a different version of magic. For magical people, our magic comes from our magical cores. Our magical power depends on how large our core is and how much we exorcise it. The force, like magic is all around us. It is created by the very life on this planet. All magic users can use the force if they are trained how to find it. This may be something we will do for magical law enforcement as part of their training at some time in the future. It really should start as part of or training from a very young age. The Jedi Knights start as young as a year old. They usually don't reach knighthood until they are at least eighteen or nineteen. There is a very good possibility that some mundanes, as well as squibs could be sensitive enough to the force to train as Jedi Knights without having a lick of magic in them. That was the case with most of the knights we met in the other galaxy."

"Stand away from your desk and I will give you a demonstration. Then you can try." Harry says.

The warden steps away from his desk, which is made of very heavy oak, to withstand the salt air. With a single downward swipe of his saber, Harry slices the desk neatly in two. A wave of his hand later and the desk is back to normal.

"I wanted to give the demonstration to show you how dangerous this weapon is before I let you hold it," Harry says," think of it as a very, very sharp two sided sword that can take your arm off like a hot knife through butter."

The captain takes the sword, with Madame Bones looking on and repeats Harry's action on his desk. He hands the sword back and with a quick Reparo from his wand to fix his desk, he sits down in his chair.

"That was very impressive," he says," I felt a little resistance as I swung the saber. Just like a real sword would feel, except for going through the desk. I didn't feel any resistance from the desk at all. I am very proficient with an epee and am a fencing champion of some repute. How does one get one of those?"

"It actually takes quite a while to learn how to use one of these," Harry explains," As you can see it would be very easy to accidentally cut off an arm or leg, or to hurt someone else. It takes very special training. If you were to turn on one of these and you were standing too close to someone the blade would just go right though them, possibly killing them on the spot. We will consider Jedi training for future classes at Hogwarts and the Auror department once we graduate. The best you can do for now is to learn how to feel the force and make it work for you. We will send books to your department Madam Bones. There is a test you can do to see who is best suited for this type of training. Like magic, the force can be very deadly. We give the equivalent of a loaded gun to every eleven year old when they get their wands, making them armed and dangerous to a non-magical person, as well as each other. With great power comes great responsibility and you need to pick people with the right mindset. Shack and Cousin Dora come to mind as good candidates to try this idea on. If they work out, we can expand the program."

"That sounds very interesting your Majesty," Madame Bones says," Even though I am quite a bit older, I would like to see if I can do this. If I can, it will give me a feel for how to find the right candidates."

"You're more than welcome to try," Harry says," We have to start somewhere and even though this is usually started at a very young age, if you can do it then anyone should be able to. You can do it in your spare time at home. Start with meditating and trying to feel the force flowing through you. It will feel different than your magic, as it is on a different frequency. You will know if you succeed. Good luck."

ooOOoo

"Back to the problem at hand," Hermione brings up," We have eliminated the threat from those mindless monsters, so you will have to get more guards for the prison. Without those monsters around, you might actually get to rehabilitate the lesser criminals through work programs and such to prevent repeat offenders. It's up to you who you hire but we would recommend the goblins. They are good at working underground and will make good guards. This will be an excellent way to promote inter-species cooperation and get wizards and goblins used to working alongside each other. Your men and women can learn about goblin culture and the goblins can get used to working with the working class wizard or witch that may have never had any dealings at the bank."

"I don't have a problem with that," The warden says with the captain nodding as well.

"I'll put the order through and contact Gringotts right away," Madame Bones says with a smile," I've always liked working with the goblins. They are honest and will never stab you in the back. They value honor above all else and there is no honor in that."

With everything settled, Sirius leads Bellatrix Black out, along with Madame Bones, down to the docks for the trip to the ministry to get the parchment work done for her release. Harry and Hermione phase back home to relax for the evening and relate the day to their parents.

**AN:** _I didn't want to give away what I was going to do at the beginning of the chapter. I was always going to resolve the Bellatrix LeStrange problem from the very first word written back in part one. I wasn't quite sure how to write it. I am constantly reading other stories on this web site and came across a story with a very similar solution for her and I would like to credit that author for the idea, if I could remember who it was. If you are that author and read this, send me a PM and I will happily add your name in my profile as the person responsible and recommend your story for others to read. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 46:** Rumble at the World Cup, A train trip and the sorting.

The next day Harry and Hermione get up early for their workout in the basement, then get cleaned up for the day. After dressing in their Consular robes, which is routine for them now, they head down to the kitchen for breakfast. Today is the day of the Quidditch World Cup. After breakfast the couple, along with their parents, phase to the rendezvous point to meet with the rest of the group going to the event. Harry and Hermione were given the coordinates for the event by the ministry and are going to make port keys for each family in their group. As each family appears, they make the port key and send them on their way. After everyone is taken care of; the Potters and Grangers port to the event where they meet up with their group. Harry and Hermione lead the group to the entrance where they get their housing assignments. The group is assigned a row of what looks like wooden shacks, but when they look inside, they appear to be one and two bedroom suites, Complete with kitchen and sitting room. It's amazing what magic can do. After all the luggage is stowed for the overnight trip, the children are let loose to explore the camp.

The camp is a sea of tents in various sizes and shapes. Some look like palaces from the Tales of the Arabian Nights, while others look like three story manor houses with smoking chimneys; so much for the statute of secrecy. At least the mundane owners of the land know about magic as they have family members that are part of the magical world. The colors viewed are many and varied. The most predominant colors though are red and black for the Bulgarian team, with green and gold dominant for the Irish. Harry and Hermione buy a pair of omnioculars, for their recording and magnifying properties for their parents to use during the game. The Potters themselves don't need them because of their powers. After wandering around the camp and talking to their friends they return to their shack for lunch. The game starts at two o'clock.

At one thirty the entire group from Phoenix house gathers to go to the stadium. Every student shows up wearing their maroon robes with the white phoenix crest on the outside. They also have on their watches and rings, which gets a lot glances as they make their way through the crowds. The parents of these children couldn't be more proud as they follow them to the stadium. As they enter the enlarged private booth, Harry and Hermione notice a couple of chairs in the center that are larger than the rest, with tiered seating arranged in a semicircle on either side. The two larger chairs are set forward and sticking out, like a balcony, over the rows of seating below the booth. The Pendragon banner is hanging from the balcony, letting the crowd know the King and Queen are in attendance today.

Hermione notices a house elf sitting way up in the top row in the back corner shivering. She takes Harry's hand and leads him up to her. When they arrive the elf looks up at them but won't release her hold on the chair she is sitting in.

Hermione kneels down and asks," What's your name miss?"

The elf squeaks out," I is Winky, Elders"

"What's wrong," Hermione asks," Why are you shivering?"

"Master has gone," she says," Winky was supposed to guard him. Older master will give Winky clothes for sure."

"I know your magic won't allow you to tell us who your master is Winky," Hermione says," but if he or she gives you clothes, you can come work for us if you want."

"Thanks you Elders," she answers, still shivering.

Hermione thought the offer would at least calm the elf down but she is still sitting there shaking like a leaf.

"I thought the offer might alleviate your shivering," Hermione says to her," Would you like to go find you master?"

"Oh yes Elder," she says," I woulds like that very muches. Winky does nots likes heights, but I was ordereds to stay heres."

Hermione puts a hand on top of Winky's head," I override your order to stay here by the power of the Elders. You may go in search of your master now."

"Thank yous," She says and disappears with a pop.

After the elf disappears, Harry and Hermione look around and notice everyone is still standing. They sigh and proceed down to their seats where they sit down, allowing everyone else to find seats. At two o'clock precisely, the fanfare starts with the Bulgarian team flying around the pitch, followed by their mascots, a group of very pretty women with shimmering robes on and pretty streamers flowing behind them as they dance to the music echoing around the stadium. Harry looks around the booth and notices about half the young men on their feet, with some of them trying to climb over the protective railing.

"What's going on Hermione?" Harry asks as he watches the various witches in the booth trying to get there menfolk back in their seats. Mr. Weasley has a hold of Ron's belt to keep him from climbing the barrier.

"Oh Harry," she laughs," If I ever needed proof you loved me; this is one form of it. Those are Veela dancing on the pitch below us. When they emit their allure, only someone very much in love with another, or being past the age of reproduction can resist. Don't ever change."

"I still don't understand Hermione," Harry says," why would I want any of those women when I have the most beautiful woman on the planet as my wife?"

She just just gives him a very wide smile and leans over to give him a kiss that curls his toes.

After the Veela leave the field it is the Irish's turn. The team flies onto the field followed by golden streams of coins that float down to be collected by the gullible crowd. There is a magical display of a leprechaun sitting on his pot of gold one side of the field, showering more coins on the crowd. Most of the crowd knows it is leprechaun gold and will disappear in an hour, but there are still a few that don't get it and collect as much as they can carry. After the show is over, the captains for each team fly up and stop in front of the King and Queen. They each bow to show their respect and after Harry and Hermione bow their heads back at them, take off for the start of the game.

There is much cheering and chanting from the crowd as the game progresses. Krum, Krum, Krum, comes from the Bulgarian side. After about two hours of play the Irish are up two hundred twenty to sixty. Krum, who is the best seeker in the world, has spotted the snitch several times but had hopes his chasers could even the game enough for them to win. The Irish keeper is just too good and he sees that is not going to happen, so when he spots the snitch this time he goes after it to at least keep the score from getting too one sided. He catches the snitch, using the famous Wronsky Faint dive. Unfortunately, he can't pull up in time and ploughs into the field, breaking his nose in the process. The game is over, with the final score being the Irish with two twenty to the Bulgarians two ten.

After flying their victory lap around the pitch the two teams enter into the King and Queens box to receive their trophies. The victors approach first, with Harry handing the trophy to the winning captain while Hermione puts ribbons around their necks. The losing team comes up next to receive their second place trophy and ribbons. As Hermione places the ribbon around Krum's neck she reaches up and heals his nose. Krum bows formally to her in thanks and leaves with the rest of his team.

All around the camp parties are going on as the people celebrate their team's victory or commiserate their team's loss. The children all go to bed around ten while their parents continue to party. This includes Harry and Hermione, along with their parents.

About two in the morning, everyone is woken up by a loud explosion. Harry and Hermione get up and walk into the sitting room with the Grangers. Harry and Hermione use their vision to look through the walls to the outside to see what is going on. They spot a group of men in black robes with white masks levitating the owners of the camp ground, who are screaming as they are taunted.

"Jeeves," Harry calls out.

He pops in after a few seconds," You called my lord?"

"Yes, please take mum and dad, along with our belongings back to the house. We will be along shortly after we get the rest of the people away. Sorry mum and dad. Please go with him. We will be able to do better knowing you are safe."

"Okay son," Mr. Granger says," See you when you get home."

Jeeves takes them away and the Potters disillusion themselves, then, rush out the door. They follow the group of men tormenting the owners of the camp. As they are approaching the cloaked figures and before they could act against the cloaked men, they hear a sound off to their left.

"MORSMORDRE" they hear, followed by a flash of green light shooting up into the sky where a bright green skull with a snake coming out of its mouth appears. The group of people that are tormenting the owners drop them in panic at seeing their former master's mark and disapperate as quickly as they can. The camp owners shakily get to their feet and run off. Several pops are heard as aurors apperate into the area around the Potters. Immediately, the area is covered in stunners. A couple of thuds are heard over to the left of the Potters, who are still disillusioned, observing.

"Stop firing," Arthur Weasley yells running up," My children are supposed to be around here. I sent them this way to get out of the panicking crowd."

Sure enough, Ron and Ginny both stand up out of the tall grass.

"What are you doing here?" Crouch demands.

"We were directing the crowd through the trees to try and keep them calm." Ron answers.

"There's an elf over here," someone shouts," She has a wand next to her."

The group moves over to the man to investigate. They find a female house elf unconscious with a wand lying on the ground next to her. One of the aurors renervates her and as she stands up, she looks up into the sky and shivers.

"Elf, did you fire that spell," an auror asks in a mean tone?

"Nos master, Winky is a good elf," she squeaks in fear," Winky not knows how."

"Who's wand is this then?" the auror asks, picking it up.

"Hey, that's mine," Ron says feeling his back pocket," and no I didn't fire whatever that spell was either. I have never heard that word before. The man's voice was very deep and scratchy though, if that will help you find him."

One of the officials in the crowd is Bartemus Crouch. The director for the International Gaming and Cooperation department at the ministry.

"Winky, I thought I told you to stay put." Crouch says.

"I's sorry master," Winky says," master gots away. I was released by the Elders."

Crouch takes off one of his gloves and throws it at Winky to get her to shut up before she inadvertently says something else.

"I give you clothes," Crouch says," I set you free."

She just falls down crying while Crouch walks off in the direction Ron indicated the voice came from. He is searching for someone covered by an invisibility cloak, but fails to find anyone. He then apperates off to somewhere else before any more questions can be asked. Everyone else ignores the elf, which disappears as she is grabbed by Hermione, to be phased back to the Granger's house. Harry stays behind long enough to make sure the area is cleared of stragglers then phases home to be with his family.

Winky is surprised at the mode of travel she just experienced and even more surprised when she spots Jeeves serving tea to the Grangers. Harry phases in a few minutes later. They are immediately surrounded by their parents as they ask for information on what happened. After filling them in on the happenings at the World Cup camp grounds the parents retire to their beds as it is two thirty in the morning.

Harry and Hermione turn to Winky and ask," Would you like to bond with us Winky?"

The elf nods vigorously, causing her ears to flap.

"Winky would loves to bonds with the great Elders. Yes Winky woulds," She says.

Harry and Hermione both place a hand on her head," We bond with thee as family, Winky Potter.

She grows a full two and a half feet, making her five feet tall. This is a half foot taller than any other elf. She has golden skin and beautiful slanted green eyes with shimmering green hair that matches her eyes perfectly. Her ears are delicate, with a slight point to them. Her face is oval with a slight point to her chin. Her lips are full and have a slight very dark greenish tint to them. Her pillowcase changes into an elegant maroon tunic with the Potter crest and flared at the thighs black pants with matching shoes. In other words, she is absolutely beautiful for an elf.

Jeeves takes one look at her and bows low.

"Welcome to the Potter household. My Queen," He says reverently.

Harry and Hermione also bow to her to show their respect for her station.

She curtsies back at them and says," It is not necessary for you to bow to me My Lord and Lady. It is only fitting that the Queen of the elves serves the King and Queen of the magical world and the Elders of the Universe."

"Thank you," Hermione replies," You can be my personal elf. We'll be like sisters."

Harry smiles at Hermione, knowing she always wanted a sister she could confide in for girly things that guys just wouldn't understand. The Potters retire to their bedroom for the night. The last two days of August are spent with the family relaxing in anticipation of going back to school.

ooOOoo

September first dawns bright and clear with cool temperatures as the family wakes and gets ready for the trip to Kings Cross Station and platform nine and three quarters. Harry and Hermione decide to phase to the platform this year to save their parents the trip, which is okay with them since they have the watches to keep in contact with the children. After hugs and well wishes the Potters phase to the platform and proceed to their usual compartment where with a wave of his hand Harry expands the compartment to hold their group. After a while all of the group has made it and get settled for the trip.

"Okay guys," Harry says to start off the meeting," There will be no official quidditch matches this year." This of course brings protest from several people, most loudly from Ron.

"No quidditch," he shouts," That is outrageous. Nothing is more important than quidditch."

Draco agrees by nodding his head vigourously.

"Except maybe your grades," Hermione reminds everyone.

"Now that the initial shock is over I will continue," Harry says," Quiddich is canceled this year for two reasons. One reason is the way quidditch is played will change this year. New brooms have been bought for the school for general training, along with brooms that are appropriate for each position on the team. For example, a Firebolt isn't the right type of broom for a keeper. That position needs a stable broom with strong bristles to be able to bat away the quaffle. The beaters need brooms that they can control with their knees if they need to switch hands with the beaters bats. Chasers need brooms that are easy to control for tight sudden turns while seekers need fast brooms to keep up with the snitch. Each position will be provided with a broom appropriate for that position. This will level the playing field to the point that the player's skill on the broom and team strategy will determine the victor, not who has the best broom. One other thing that is changing this year is the way teams are picked. We will start playing other schools, so there will be a varsity team, which will be made up of the best players in the school and there will be reserves for each position. There will be no more haphazard tryouts with brooms brought from home. Your personal broom will be for your flying enjoyment only. Friendly matches amongst friends is okay as long as you're careful. Competitions with other schools will be done on school brooms only. To earn a place on the varsity or reserve teams you will have to be trained how to use the broom designed for your position on the teams. We have authorized Madame Hooch to hire assistants to train students that are interested in competing on how to fly properly. We want no untrained flyers on the teams. Quidditch is too dangerous for armatures that don't have a clue how to handle their brooms. Consequently, Hogwarts will turn out the best trained Quidditch players in the world. If that is your ambition then you will be trained properly and have an excellent chance of being recruited by a professional team."

"Now for the second reason," Hermione continues," The Tri-Wizard Tournament is coming to Hogwarts this year. Students from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute will be here to participate. Harry and I believe Voldemort is going to use this tournament as a means to snatch Harry from Hogwarts in an attempt to gain a new body. Do-not-worry-about-us. We have it covered. Just don't be surprised if Harry's name comes out of the goblet. We did some spying over the summer and found this out. They don't know that we know the plan. Dumbledore is going to put an age line around the goblet to keep under age students from entering. The tournament is too dangerous for under trained witches or wizards to participate. What good will glory and a thousand galleons do you if you are dead. Let of age students participate and root for Hogwart's champion. If Harry's name does come out of the goblet, it will have to be for a fictional forth school and he will not take away from the other three champions. The reason we are telling you this is so you won't be surprised when it happens and because we are Phoenix House. We are supposed to be the elite of the school. Let's set an example for the rest of the students and help out with our visitors. Be courteous and show them how to navigate through the halls of Camelot. Other than that, be yourselves and enjoy the tournament."

The meeting breaks up and the various friends within the group chat about their summer holiday as the train rumbles through the country side on its way to Hogwarts. As the train approaches Hogsmead the boys vacate the compartment so the girls can change into their robes with the boys stand guard and then they switch. Harry and Hermione are wearing their Consular robes as the leaders of the group. When the train arrives in Hogsmead the group departs and helps guide the first years over to Hagrid while making sure the loading of the carriages is carried out in an orderly manner. After all of the other students have departed the station and boarded carriages, Phoenix house students take the last two carriages and enter the great hall as a disciplined group. This of course gets all of the other student's attention as the group comes in by twos as if they were an army squad with Harry and Hermione marching in front of the group. They march in order around the table and all stand at their place until Harry holds a seat for Hermione and then seats himself. After their leaders are sitting, the rest of the group sits and waits in anticipation of the first years and the sorting. Everyone in the hall notices the empty chairs at the round table.

The great doors open and the first years walk up the central isle toward the front. The group stops a few feet from the front where they can see a stool with an old tattered hat sitting on it. The hat comes alive and with a slit appearing above the rim, it starts to sing.

**Oh welcome to Hogwarts**

**To all of you first years**

**I may not look like much**

**I am not unpleasant to touch**

**...  
**

**Put me on your head**

**So we can see**

**In which house**

**You are meant to be**

**...  
**

**Will it be Gryffindor House**

**For those few Brave and true**

**If you have courage enough**

**This is the house for you**

**...  
**

**Will it be Slytherin House**

**For those ambitious few**

**If you are cunning enough**

**This is the house for you**

**...  
**

**Will it be Hufflepuff House**

**For those unafraid of work**

**If you are loyal and true**

**This is the house for you**

**...  
**

**Will it be Ravenclaw House**

**For those of intellect**

**If you are of the studious few**

**This is the house for you**

**...  
**

**As you can see **

**There is a fifth house**

**The House of the White Phoenix**

**House of the elite of Hogwarts**

**...  
**

Hedwig flames in at this time singing along with the hat and alights on Harry's chair.

**...**

**In this house resides**

**An elite few from each house**

**Lead by the Elders of old **

**Who protect the fold **

(Harry and Hermione stand)

**...**

**They come from Gryffindor**

(Ginny Weasley stands)

**...**

**They come from Ravenclaw**

(Luna Lovegood stands)

**...**

**They come from Hufflepuff**

(Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Neville Longbottom stand)

**...**

**They come from Slytherin**

(Draco Black, Ron Weasley, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Pansy Parkinson stand)

**...**

It escapes no ones attention that there are more Slytherins than other houses standing.

**...**

**If you study hard**

**Show willingness to help others**

**You too could be**

**An elite White Phoenix**

**...  
**

**So come up one by one**

**Put me on your head **

**And we will see**

**Which house is yours to be**

The hat went quiet and the students went wild with the cheering for the song and the new house that was started in the middle of last year.

Professor McGonagall walks up to the stool and unrolls her parchment scroll and starts to call names. One by one the new students walk up to the stool and puts the hat on their head to be sorted. Once the sorting is completed Harry waves at the Headmaster that he has something to say. The Headmaster nods at him. Harry and Hermione both get up and walk to the podium, where they adjust it to their height. Every student is watching them with great interest.

Harry starts out," Would the following students stand up:

**From Gryffindor: **

Colin Creevey,

Parvati Patil,

Lavender Brown.

**From Ravenclaw:**

Padma Patil,

Camilla Carmichael

**From Hufflepuf:**

Jenna Jenkins

**From Slytherin:**

Millicent Bulstrode."

Each student stands as their name is called.

"Each of these students," Hermione continues as she and Harry look around the Great Hall at the faces looking back at them," Has shown exemplary conduct and willingness to help others. Their grades are excellent, yes even Parvati and Lavender. They may be the school gossips but they excel in their grades and have proven themselves. These students have been approved by Hedwig and the council of five and have all been promoted to Phoenix house. You may move to the Phoenix table and take your seats."

Each of the student's robes changes to the Maroon color with the Phoenix crest and their uniforms change to match their new status. They move over to their new table and sit with the others to the cheering of the other students. Even Slytherin house is cheering as another of their house is selected. They still have the most members and Slytherin house is no longer looked at as dark and evil.

"Phoenix House students will still take classes with their original house," Harry says," It was determined this is the best way to keep us intermixed with the general population for emergencies and each carries a port key to a safe place if anyone gets trapped in a bad situation. I believe the Headmaster has some announcements."

The Headmaster stands up at his chair and calls out," I believe I will wait until after the feast."

With an expressive wave of his arms the feast appears on the tables and everyone digs in.

While they are eating Harry and Hermione suddenly look up towards the front doors. They get up and approach the headmasters table.

"There is a Death Eater approaching the front gates," Harry whispers to Albus," We think it is the person that was with Riddle this summer. He may appear to be someone you know. We will allow this person in the school, but keep an eye on him. He mustn't suspect Hermione or I are any different than the other students. You can tell him we are just part of a very studious group and you provided a separate house for us as a reward."

"I am expecting my friend Alistor Moody," Albus whispers back," He is a retired Auror of some renown. He will be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"I read in the paper there was some trouble with him this summer," Hermione whispers," Whoever the person approaching looks like, they are definitely a marked follower of Riddle. If he is impersonating your friend, we will find him for you and if he is still alive, free him."

"Thank you for the warning," Albus says.

Harry and Hermione have just sat back down to continue with their meal when the Great Hall doors bang open. The Great Hall went very quiet.

Clomp step tap, Clomp step tap, Clomp step tap.

The man stumping into the hall is dressed in a leather jacket and trousers with a brown overcoat. He has one wooden peg leg, which accounts for the clomp sound and uses a short staff for support, which accounts for the tap. He pauses for a moment to take a swig from the flask at his hip and continues on towards the front. He has one regular eye and in an eye patch, he has a blue eye which seems to be looking everywhere at once as it spins around. On his face, he has a scar that looks like someone had taken a knife to it and hadn't finished the job.

Professor Dumbledore stands up and says," Hello Alistor. Students, this is Alistor Moody. He is and accomplished Auror and will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor this year. Come on up and sit at the staff table so the students can see you."

The students give the creepy looking man a polite applause and then turn back to their meals. After the meal is concluded the Headmaster stands and walks to the podium where he adjusts it for his height.

"Now that we are all fed and watered I have a few announcements to make. Welcome to Hogwarts to all the new students and welcome back to the older students. May your heads all be filled with magical knowledge and wisdom? As usual, the forbidden forest is just that, forbidden to all but masters and their apprentices that have a need to go in there. For all others it is too dangerous. As you may have heard, Quidditch is cancelled this year for two reasons. One is the gaming system is being changed and in the future we will be competing against other schools instead of against each other. Friendly matches between friends will be permitted. See Madame Hootch for details on how you can join the teams that represent Hogwarts. The second reason for cancelling quidditch is we have been picked to host the Tri-Wizard Tournament this year. It has been decided to bring the tournament back as a precursor for quidditch tournaments between schools from other countries, very much like the competition for the world cup which was hosted by England this year. The other two schools will be the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic from France and the Durmstrang Institute of Bulgaria. That will be all. Prefects may lead their students to their common rooms and show the first years where their dorm rooms are."

Everyone gets up and heads off to their common rooms with Phoenix house going a different way than the rest of the houses. When they arrive at their common rooms Sirius Black explains to the new arrivals.

"My Name is Sirius Black in case you don't know already. I am your head of house. Each of you has a private room with your name on the door. Your things have been moved into your rooms for you. Curfew is ten thirty on week nights and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. We generally get up before the rest of the school to help other students if needed. Our jobs are similar to the prefects in that we patrol the halls to keep the peace. If you find any trouble you can't handle by yourself, especially from the older students, use the mirrors in your watches to contact myself or if you spot someone in real trouble call Harry or Hermione. They are Elders and can phase to your position in an instant. If you have any questions, see myself or the Elders. Okay, off to bed with you lot. I'm sure you are tired after your trip. See your old heads of house for your schedules in the morning. Have a good evening."

With that said, he retires to his quarters and the students disperse to find their rooms.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 47:** **The first day of school and the Unforgivable's**

The next morning at oh five hundred the House of the White Phoenix is awakened by a peculiar sound.

Hummm, Hummm, chee, che, che, che, chisssss.

Hummmm, shiikhaaa, shikhaaa,

Swishhhh, swishhhh, putchee….. putchee, putchee, putchee.

Colin Creevey is awakened by the noises and raises his head to listen. He hears the noises again.

"I know that sound," he says to himself and gets out of bed. He puts on his night robe and sticks his head out the door of his quarters. He notices others doing the same. The sound comes again and it sounds like it is coming from the end of the hall. Even their head of house, Sirius Black, is awakened and goes to investigate. As he starts to walk past Colin's room, Colin reaches out to grab his arm to get his attention.

Sirius looks over at him and asks," What is it Colin?"

"Sir," Colin says hesitatingly," I know what that sound is, but it should not be possible."

"What do you think it is," Sirius asks?

"Well, it sounds like a fight between two light sabers from a muggle movie called Star Wars, but those sounds in the movie were for effect only. The devices that are supposed to make those sounds are just movie props and not real."

"Let's go find out what is making the noise that woke us up," Sirius says," But, stay behind me."

As he walks down the corridor, the rest of the students follow behind their head of house. He comes to a door that wasn't there yesterday and pushes it open a crack to take a peek inside. What he sees astonishes him and he just opens the door the rest of the way.

What greets the student's sight is Harry and Hermione standing back to back with ten small spheres swishing around them at various angles and speed shooting pulses of white light at them. The pair is moving so fast they are hard to follow with what looks like green, glowing rods blocking each and every shot from the spheres. They watch as Harry and Hermione, with their eyes closed, move in a graceful dance, covering all angles in defending against the spheres.

Colin takes one look and blurts out," Those are real? Cool, I've always wanted one."

The two Jedi masters notice they have an audience and call a halt to the exorcise. The spheres stop in mid-air and hover there, where the students can see crystal like windows on the spheres to show where the white light pulses were coming from.

"Good morning everyone," Harry says as he and Hermione shut their blades down.

Everyone watches as the green bars shrink, looking like they are being sucked down into the silver cylinders in the Potter's hands.

"Those are working light sabers," Colin says in awe," How can those be real?"

"They are called energy swords," Hermione says," But light sabers would fit as well. The term light saber was coined by George Lucas when he came up with the Star wars movie series back in the nineteen seventies."

"Where did you get them," Colin asks?

"We built them ourselves," Harry says, then continues with a cheeky grin on his face." We built them a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."

"Now I know you are pulling my leg," Colin says," Star wars is just a movie, a good one; but still just a movie."

"Actually," Hermione says," The movies are a dramatization of a war that happened one thousand years ago in the Leggit Galaxy. The movies don't show what really happened, as that would make them kind of dull and unexciting. Lucas's family must have come from there as the movies are too close to what actually happened to be coincidence. To **his** family the war would have been a legend and legends make for good movie material."

"You expect us to believe you went to another galaxy a thousand years ago," Daphne asks with raised eyebrows," Even with a time turner you can't go back more than a few hours."

"We didn't use a time turner," Harry says," We went in our ship, The Phoenix."

"You have a ship," Colin interrupts?

"Yes, we have a ship, just in like the movies," Harry continues," It's of our own design. You can see it with a good set of omnioculars. It's docked to the International Space Station. We used a portal provided by the Creator to go back in time and to travel the distance. We didn't age while were there, thanks to the Creator, and spent fifty years there. We learned from Yoda himself; that is why we wear Consular robes and our energy blades are green in color."

"These devices are mundane in design," Hermione takes over," but require a connection to what the movies call the force. We will go ahead and use the term **force** to keep you from confusing the two types of magic. The force is a form of magic, but instead of coming from inside you, it flows all around you and is created by life itself. If you have the right DNA makeup, you can learn to channel this form of magic and make it do your bidding. The difference between the force and magic is mudanes can do it too as it doesn't require a magical core to work. You don't have to be magical to be able to use it. Each of you were picked because you have the DNA makeup to do this and we will teach you. When you are ready, we will direct you in how to obtain the materials to build your own energy swords. This will take you a while to master, so don't be discouraged by how long it takes. Mastering the force will be separate from your magical education and kept a secret for now."

"This chamber has been designed towards that aim." Harry transitions smoothly," You will notice several smaller rooms located around the chamber. These are meditation rooms and this is where you will begin your lessons. Each day, you are to go into a room and sit comfortably on the mat provided. While sitting there we want you to reach deep down inside yourselves to find your magical core. You need to get a feel for your magic so you can get familiar with how it feels when you use it. Close your eyes and cast a Lumos spell and try to feel your magic flow from your core, down your arm and through your wand. Once you get the feel for your magic you can then try to feel the magic around you that is not connected to you. The rooms are designed to isolate you from all of the magic in the castle but the force flows through everything and cannot be dampened by a magical castle. The isolation is for you to understand the difference between the two types of magic."

The students love the Potter's teaching style and are very attentive, despite the early hour, when Hermione takes over once more.

"The force does different things than magic. For instance, you cannot conjure anything with the force like you can with magic. There is no spell to start a camp fire with the force, or to duplicate an item. You can't apparate the way we do or dry yourself if you get wet. There are a lot of things that can be done with magic that is not possible with the force. I bet right about now you are saying to yourselves, 'what good is this force then?' What you can do with the force that can't be done with magic is use the flow of the force to push your enemies away from you, run really fast and jump incredible distances. You can cause everything around you to float off the ground at the same time, and be used as projectiles towards a target. You can use the force to get a restful sleep while keeping aware of your surroundings, which could be a good thing if you are in the field and need to rest while in a danger zone. There are a lot of similarities between the force and magic but the one major difference between the two is the force **Does Not Need A Wand **to use. That is why mundanes can become force users as well. When you get right down to it, Magic and the force are just two forms of energy on different frequencies. With magic, the spells cast are visible as different colored lights. Since those lights are made up of energy like a blaster bolt, energy swords are able to deflect them. The flow of the force is invisible. It can be made visible in forms such as force lightning. It can help you find your way in a thick fog or navigate a maze."

"By now I'm sure you have gotten the idea of how versatile both forms of energy is," Harry concludes," and you will learn it all over time. You will be the future Jedi of our planet and maybe even the Intergalactic Community of Planets. Let's return to our rooms and get ready for the day. You can use any free time you have to meditate and if you need help, ask. Please don't tell anyone about our energy swords. The students raised in the mundane world will think they are just props unless we have to use them in an emergency here at the school. You are dismissed. See you at breakfast."

Everyone files out of the chamber to their rooms to get dressed for the day and then makes their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry and Hermione stop to examine the map on their wall to see who the imposter is. They notice two names in the Defense Professor's office, Barty Crouch and Alistor Moody.

While at breakfast, Sirius hands out schedules to the students that were given to him at the staff meeting before school started. Hufflepuff has Defense with the new teacher first class on Thursday. Today is History of Magic and Transfiguration, so Harry and Hermione head to the history classroom with the rest of their year.

This year they are paired with Ravenclaw for most of their classes. House pairings are usually based on academic standings from the end of the last school year. That way the two smartest houses from the year before are paired together for competition. It also keeps the lesser houses from being constantly outshined by the smarter ones, which can make the point count a bit one sided and discourage the academically impaired. This allows even the not so studious to get points for right answers since there are no prodigies to take away their chance to shine.

The Potter's get through the two classes with no problems and after the evening meal the Phoenix house students return to their dorm, eager to learn the meditation techniques to find their cores. By Wednesday morning all of the students have found their cores by practicing using the Lumos spell to feel their magic.

Wednesday evening Harry and Hermione have the students all meditating in the small rooms when they feel a presence in their minds.

"Students," the voices say," We want you to understand what the force feels like so we will show you. While you listen to our voices we want you to resist what we tell you to do. While you are attempting to resist the voice in your heads, try to feel the flow of the force that is carrying our voices. You should feel a flow of energy that feels similar to your magic, but different. The better you are at resisting our commands, the stronger in the force you will become. We are only going to command you to stand up using what is called Force Persuasion. We will do it over and over for the next two hours and then again in the morning. Professor Moody has been instructed to teach about the unforgivable curses in our first class on Thursday. One of the curses is the Imperious Curse, which is similar to Force Persuasion. You will hear a voice in your head trying to command you to do something against your will. This is how a lot of people died in the last war, and also what a lot of Death Eaters claimed they were under when they were forced to fight in the last war, to stay out of Azkaban. The Professor may want to see who can resist this curse and who can't. The rank and file witch and wizard probably have little to no resistance, since they are not taught occlumency, like it is taught in most high ranking families that have family secrets needing protecting. Your ability to resist will also depend on the power of the person casting the Imperious spell and of the person using Force Persuasion against you. We will start low powered and increase it every fifteen minutes for the two hours of the lesson. You will feel tired at first from standing up and sitting back down, and then as you start to resist the command you will feel tired from using the force to resist until you get used to it. It is like running. The more you run, the further you can go before you tire out. Okay, here we go."

The students all hear the command to stand up and then to sit back down again. At first all of the students have no resistance, but as the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning lessons progress more and more of them are getting to the point where they start to stand, but then just stay seated. By Thursday morning all of the students can resist the voice to some degree, depending on the strength of the command, but they all know what to expect if Force Persuasion is used against them. Now, to see if they can resist an Imperious Curse, if someone sneaks up on them and tries to curse them. Soon enough; Thursday rolls around and it is time to test their knowledge.

The Phoenix House Students from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw meet their regular house mates at the door to the Defense class and wait for the professor to let them in, which he does just prior to the second bell. When everyone is seated, Professor Moody takes the roll and then takes out a jar with some small spiders in it.

"The ministry," he begins," just wants me to teach defense, without showing you what you are defending against. I say hogwash. If you don't know anything about the curses coming towards you, or what they look like. How will you know what countermeasures, if any, to take? Before I start with my little demonstration, who can tell me what the absolute best defense is against any and all spells?"

He looks around the class as no one volunteers to answer. Harry and Hermione know the answer but want to see where this is leading. They also know that the person teaching is this Barty Crouch fellow. They had heard the name before from Neville, so are waiting and watching. While they are waiting, they are using their special vision to surreptitiously look around the room, trying to locate the real Moody.

"No takers?" the professor asks," I will give you a hint. This defense will work against any and all spells, even the unforgivable curses."

"There is no defense against the unforgivable curses," somebody in the back scoffs.

"YOU'RE WRONG," Moody yells, startling the class," The answer for you young morons, is to not be there when the curse arrives. If you move out of the way the curse can't hit you. Once the curse is released, it goes in a straight line; it is not steerable by the caster. You have a few seconds to either shield in some manner, or get out of the way."

Everyone contemplates his answer and a few nod their understanding, including all of the Phoenix House members.

"Okay," He starts again," Who can tell us the name of one of the Unforgivable curses?"

"The Imperious Curse," Camilla Carmichael volunteers.

"That is correct. Five points to," he pauses," What house are you in. I don't recognize your robes or uniform."

"I am a member of Phoenix house," Camilla says proudly," But any points I get go to Ravenclaw, as that is where I was sorted. Phoenix house doesn't get awarded points for itself, and that is the way we want it."

This is news to the other students in the class and they all sit up and silently root for their Phoenix house members.

"Very well." the professor says," Five points to Ravenclaw for the correct answer. Any of you in this new house will have to tell me which house to award points until I get used to your faces."

"Anyone got another?" he asks.

"The Cruciatus Curse," Neville Longbottom answers.

"Yes, you would know about that one Mr. Longbottom," the professor says, and then adds with a secret smirk," How are your parents?"

"Oh they're fine," Neville answers to the surprise of the professor," They were healed last year and are now back at home regaining their strength."

"That's good to hear," the professor says, wondering if the boy is lying," Five points to your house then for your answer."

"Hufflepuff sir," Neville says, "Thank you."

"Anyone know the last curse," the professor asks?

This one Hermione answers," the killing curse, Avada Kedavra."

Everyone in the room shudders when she says the words.

"That is correct and the only person to ever survive one is sitting here in this room." He says looking over at Harry," What are you all shuddering for. Just because she said the words doesn't mean the curse is going to come out of her wand. The one thing that makes the unforgivable curses unforgivable is they can't be cast by accident and they won't work unless you really want them to work. You could cast the killing curse on me all day long and if anything at all came out of your wand, it would probably only tickle me. These three curses require specific emotions to make them work. Mostly, you have to hate your opponent completely for the killing curse to work at all. The Cruciatus Curse requires you to have a desire to torture your opponent; you have to enjoy placing another person in pain. The Imperious Curse requires the caster to have a desire to control their opponent and is usually done completely by surprise to the person being controlled. It also is the only one that can be resisted, if your mind is strong enough. It can only be done to a single person at a time and if you want to control another person, the one you have under control must be released. Five points to?"

"Hufflepuff sir," Hermione says.

"Very well," he says in his gruff voice.

He gives a demonstration of the curses using the spiders, to the disgust of most of the students.

"Next week I will cast the Imperious Curse on you to see if anyone can resist it," the professor says as the bell rings.

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief when the bell rings and hurries to get out of the classroom. The other students are chatting about how brilliant a teacher Moody is, even if he is scary. The Phoenix students are relieved they will get to practice more on their meditation and can't wait to get started again.

Since they now have a reprieve, the Phoenix students take to their meditation techniques with the enthusiasm only young people seem to have in spades. By the time the next defense lesson comes along they are all eager to try out what they have learned against Professor Moody. After the class is seated the professor enters the room.

"Are you all ready to see if you can resist the Imperious Curse?" he asks," I will be trying to make you jump up on this desk here. You will try to resist to the best of your ability. Who wants to be first?"

Cho Chang, from Ravenclaw, volunteers and walks up to the front of the class. Professor Moody points his wand at her and a sickly yellow beam of light comes from his wand as he says the incantation.

"Imperio," He says.

Everyone watches as her eyes glaze over and her face becomes calm and serene.

"You will jump on this desk and stay there." He commands.

She hesitates for a split second before jumping up onto the desk. She stands there until the professor releases her. Her eyes refocus and she has a disappointed look on her face when she realizes she failed.

"Don't look too disappointed Miss Chang," the professor says," You did hesitate for a second before you gave in. You have to fight the voice in your head if you can. It takes practice."

"Okay class, now that you know what it looks like in a person, vs. the spider; you will be able to tell when someone is under the curse. Just look at their eyes for the glazed look. Line up and each of you will get a chance."

The class lines up and everyone ends up jumping onto the desk except the Phoenix students, who are able to resist the curse. Some stumbled at first, but are able to throw the curse off. Harry and Hermione were the last two in line and they are completely unaffected by the curse due to their Jedi training and because of who they are.

"I'm impressed and astonished," Professor Moody says to the class," All of the Phoenix House students were able to throw off the curse. Why is that?"

"Harry and I are immune and we taught our house students how to resist the commands that come from a voice in their heads not their own," Hermione explains," It does take time and practice. They were at it two hours in the mornings before classes and two hours in the evenings since your last class. Needless to say, Harry and I are pleased at their success."

"Yes, Well, I have never seen anyone resist like that," the professor says," You teach very well."

"You do too sir," Harry comments," Maybe you should come out of retirement and teach permanently."

"Sorry," he says," After this year I have other commitments."

"_I just bet he does,"_ Harry sends to Hermione over their bond.

She nods discreetly to him without answering.

They have been checking the map regularly and it still shows Moody and a person named Crouch in the office at the same time but they can't seem to find the real Moody. At least he is still alive since the map doesn't show dead people. The weeks of September pass uneventfully and October gets under way as the students start to get in a festive mood for the expected visitors and the Halloween celebration. The teachers have been strict and pushing for good behavior in an effort to impress the visitors. Soon, October thirtieth arrives and selected students of the school gather on the front lawn to greet the new arrivals. Ironically, the person impersonating Professor Moody chooses this day to report to his master for last minute instructions, or he would have discovered Harry and Hermione's true identity as King and Queen. The Great Hall has changed into its formal mode with the thrones and red carpet. Harry and Hermione are seated on the thrones, decked in all of their splendor, waiting on the other schools to arrive. Out on the lawn Professor Dumbledore and Minister Fudge is awaiting the arrival of the two schools.

The first school to arrive is Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. The students outside hear a whinny coming from the air above them and look up to see a large carriage being pulled by six winged horses. The horses bring the carriage in for a perfect landing. After it stops the side door opens up and the tallest woman anyone had ever seen steps out, followed by her students dressed in powder blue robes and hats. They precede the tall woman into the Great Hall where they dance and release blue butterflies to the enjoyment of the students. The tall woman is introduced as Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of the school. She walks to the front and curtsies to the King and Queen who bow their heads to acknowledge her. The girls sit at the Ravenclaw table to wait for the next school to arrive.

Outside, the students and Headmaster watch as the lake starts to churn and bubble as the tip of a mast appears, then the rest of a seventeen hundreds style galleon ship rises out of the water. A plank lowers and students from the ship file down the plank in twos. They are followed by their Headmaster. The Durmstrang Institute has arrived. The students are dressed in heavy fur lined cloaks with brown uniforms underneath. As they walk in some dancers precede the main group and put on a show with fire breathing and Russian style dance. The students themselves march in and hit their walking sticks on the floor in time with the music, causing sparks to fly. They are followed be their Headmaster Igor Karkaroff, who bows to the King and Queen, who bow back and they take seats at the Slytherin table.

After everyone is seated, Professor Dumbledore walks up to the lectern and raises himself up.

"Welcome to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Headmistress Maxime. Welcome to the Durmstrang Institute and Headmaster Karkaroff." He proclaims to the applause of the students.

"The judges for this competition will be the three headmasters, along with Barty Crouch from the International Magical Cooperation department of the ministry, and Ludo Bagman from the Department of Magical Games and Sports. The competitors will be chosen by an impartial judge, whom Mr. Filch will bring in now."

Mr. Filch has been standing by for this announcement and carries a wooden box up to the front, where he places it on a stand.

Professor Dumbledore taps the top of the box with his wand. The box disintegrates from the top down to reveal a wooden cup or chalice. A blue flame starts up at another tap of his wand.

"I give you the Goblet of Fire," he announces," The goblet will sit here tonight and through the day tomorrow. There will be an age line around the goblet that will prevent anyone not of age; that is anyone under the age of seventeen, from putting their names in. Anyone of age need only write their name and the name of their school on a piece of parchment. Then deposit it in the goblet to be considered for the tournament. Think long and hard before you put your name in. The tournament is dangerous and if your name is picked, you will be entering a binding magical contract that cannot be broken until the last task is complete. **The Tri Wizard Tournament has now begun.**"

Harry and Hermione stand up and walk up to the lectern after the Headmaster is finished and rise up to a height where everyone can see them.

They turn to face the girls from Beauxbatons and say in unison in French:

"La école de Hogwart des espoirs de sorcellerie et de sorcellerie vous appréciez votre sejour ici. Bonne chance à votre concurrent dans le tournoi et l'accueil vers Camelot, notre maison."

The girls all stand up and curtsey for their courtesy of speaking to them in their native language.

Then they turn to the Boys from Durmstrang as say in unison in Bulgarian.

"Училище за магия и вълшебство на Hogwart надява да се насладите на престоя си тук. Успех на конкурент в турнира и добре дошли в Камелот, нашият дом. "

The young men all stand and bow to the couple, not to be outdone by their French counterparts.

Then in unison to everyone in the hall," For those that don't understand French or Bulgarian this is what we said to them. 'Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry hopes you enjoy your stay here. Good luck to your competitor in the tournament and welcome to Camelot, our home.' To the students of Hogwarts, we expect you to show proper courtesy to our guests and please, all three schools, get to know each other and make new friends. That is the main purpose of this tournament. There are only three competitors but each school brought twenty of their best students with them. This is the perfect opportunity to learn about other cultures, so interact with each other and most of all have fun. Now, we are sure you are all more than ready to relax and consequently, we can go back to being just Harry and Hermione so, **Let the Feast Begin."**

The visiting students stare in astonishment at the couple as they speak in perfect unison. Who are these two? The students of Hogwarts, who are used to it, laugh at that last part and cheer as the feast appears on the tables. Harry and Hermione's robes revert back to their Consular robes and they join their friends at the Phoenix table.

After the meal is over and the guests have returned to their abodes for the evening, Harry and Hermione walk over to the staff table and ask for a council meeting. It is quickly agreed to and the council members meet in the Headmaster's office.

Once everyone is seated comfortably with refreshments, Harry stands up.

"We called you all here to ask if there is more than one Barty Crouch," Harry says.

This gets everyone's attention.

"There used to be," Albus says," The man here tonight had a son that died in Azkaban. He was a Death Eater that got caught and sentenced to life."

"The man that is teaching Defense this year is a Death Eater in disguise," Hermione says," Harry and I have been monitoring him and our map shows Alistor Moody and Barty Crouch both in the Defense office, but we can't find the second person. The reason we are bringing it up is the person you named tonight as a judge is definitely not a Death Eater. We had never heard of him before, so we were surprised when you introduced him. We knew about Crouch Jr. because of Neville's parents. We didn't know he was supposed to have died, we thought he escaped somehow, like Sirius."

Professors McGonagall and Sprout gasps at the name while Snape and Flitwick look grim at the thought he is still alive and wondering what his agenda is.

"So the man tonight is his father," Harry says," I wonder if maybe he might have helped him escape. We saw him at the Quidditch Cup this summer and he was acting strange, like he was looking for someone, but couldn't find him. He gave his elf clothes to free her while we were observing under cover of our disillusionment. We took her in and bonded with her right away. While she was in the stands, shaking in fear from how high up we were, she kept going on about finding here master, who had gotten away. He must have been the one to send up the dark mark signal at the camp that evening. He is probably the man we saw early this summer when we were spying on Riddle through the eyes of his snake Nagini. Okay, I know that is a lot of assumptions, but everything fits. Let's just keep monitoring him since we know he is here on Riddle's orders. Too bad he is a Death Eater. He is a really good teacher and knows his stuff."

"Okay," Hermione says looking around at the council," we have the information we need, so thank you for your time. Harry and I would like to speak to grandpa for a few minutes, so thank you for your time."

The four heads of houses leave the office and retire to their quarters for the evening.

"We wanted to ask you grandpa if there is a way to hide a person in such a way that even with our special vision, we can't find him?" Hermione asks," We know your friend is in that room somewhere, but we haven't been able to search it physically yet. Crouch is always in there and tonight we were too busy with duties."

Albus thinks for a moment and says," Alistor always travels with an eight compartment trunk. Those compartments can be enchanted to be anything from a simple trunk compartment to a three bedroom flat, complete with kitchen and bath. The space would be in another dimension, so to speak, so you might not be able to see him with your vision, while your map **can**, since it is tied to Hogwarts."

"That would explain it," Harry says," We will just have to keep an eye on our resident Death Eater and try to rescue your friend the next time he leaves to report to his master."

"Thanks for the information Harry," Albus says," I might be able to manufacture a reason for him to leave for a weekend in the near future."

"We'll be ready grandpa," Hermione says as she and Harry stand up," Good night and sweet dreams."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 48: Halloween

The next morning, after their workout and training session with the Phoenix house students, Harry and Hermione enter the Great Hall for breakfast. The Goblet of Fire is sitting in front of the Phoenix table with a magical age line drawn around it. Since dinner yesterday evening students that are of age have been dropping their names in the goblet, hoping to get picked for the tournament. There was even an incident where the Weasley twins thought they could fool the age line with a potion. They put their names in and the goblet spit them back out again giving the twins beards in the process. Of course this gave everybody a big laugh, which was the point anyway with the twins. As they are eating breakfast a big hush comes over the hall. Everyone watches as world quidditch star Victor Krum walks up to the goblet and puts his name in. He looks over at Harry and Hermione and gives a curt nod in their direction and walks off. They raise their goblets to him in acknowledgement. The rest of the day goes well for Hogwarts and the other two schools as everyone is excited about the drawing that will happen after dinner.

That evening at eight o'clock precisely, the goblet flares up, indicating it is ready to render its decision. The whole hall leans forward in anticipation, watching the goblet for its first choice. The blue fire of the goblet flairs up turning red as it spits out the first parchment. Professor Dumbledore catches it and reads what is written.

"From Beauxbatons Academy of Magic: Fleur Delacour!"

Miss Delecour gets up to the applause of the students and proceeds to the designated room to await her fellow contestants. The goblet flairs again and spits out the next piece of parchment.

"From the Durmstrang Institute: Victor Krum!"

Everyone cheers again as they hear chanted by his friends," Krum, Krum, Krum!"

He also proceeds to the waiting room to join Fleur to wait for the Hogwarts champion to join them. The goblet flairs a third time and spits out the final champion.

"From Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Cedric Diggory!"

The Hogwarts crowd goes wild and starts chanting Cedric's name as he goes to the waiting room. At this point the goblet should have gone out but it didn't. It makes a spitting and sputtering noise, like it is fighting something, the fire flairs up a full five feet in the air as it finally spits out a forth name, then goes out. A few seconds later it cracks down the middle and falls apart into two pieces. Everyone stares at the remains of the goblet and then the piece of parchment lying on the floor. Headmaster Dumbledore picks it up and reads out:

"Harry Potter?"

He looks over at Harry and asks, playing his part," did you put your name in the goblet?

"Absolutely not," Harry answers. He notices Moody has already gone into the waiting room, and throws up a charm to prevent them from hearing what is going on out in the hall.

"There is no logical reason for me to enter. Hermione and I are already richer than the royal family so we don't need the money," he continues," We are the King and Queen of magical Britain so we don't need the fame or the glory the contestants will earn by competing. Someone put my name in the goblet for nefarious purpose and look what that did to the goblet. It was destroyed trying to fight whatever magic was used on it to force a forth name. We will get to the bottom of this. I do understand I will have to participate as a forth contestant because of the magical contract. However, I will participate only. The other three are the actual champions chosen. Hermione and I will root for the Hogwarts champion along with the rest of you."

The Hogwarts crowd cheers their King as he and Hermione get up and walk to the waiting room. Professor Dumbledore waves his wand around the goblet to see what happened, and then casts a Reparo Spell on it to put it back together. He sets it back up onto its pedestal and follows after the contestants. When Harry and Hermione enter the room everyone stands in respect for the King and Queen. Moody wonders why they are standing for a couple of forth year students when Dumbledore walks through the door.

"Professor Moody," He says," There seems to be a problem with the Goblet of Fire, it spit and sputtered before it went out and in the process spit out Mr. Potter's name. As our resident Defense professor, please go out and check it over for dark magic."

"Yes sir," he says and stumps his way out the door.

Harry waves his hand at the door, locking it tight and casts anti listening wards around the room. Everyone feels the wards go up and look over at him with new respect.

"Someone put Harry Potter's name in the goblet tonight," Professor Dumbledore starts out," and it destroyed the Goblet when his name came out. Also, there was no school name written on the parchment as there should have been."

"Are you sure there was no school written," Mr. Crouch asks?

"Positive," Professor Dumbledore answers," This will make the contract for Harry invalid and he doesn't legally have to compete."

Crouch and Bagman agrees, to the relief of the other contestants.

Harry takes over the conversation," Hermione and I suspected something like this would happen and prepared for it. I will participate with you three in the tournament, but not as an official contestant. It wouldn't be fair to you three for me to be an actual contestant."

They gave him funny looks. He may be a king, but he was only fourteen years old according to his birth records. They were more worried about hurting a member of the magical royal family of Britain.

"This is only for show for the person that put my name in." Harry continues, ignoring the looks," We want to draw him or her out and defeat their plan. You will have an added benefit with me and Hermione as part of this in that we can be an extra safety net for you to keep you from serious injury."

"How can you do that?" Mr. Karkaroff asks, very interested in keeping his quidditch star in one piece.

"Hedwig," Hermione calls out.

Hedwig flames in and lands on her shoulder; further impressing the contestants at the sight of the white phoenix.

"Please bring your perch here for a few minutes, would you, you pretty bird?" she asks nicely.

Hedwig flames out and then a few seconds later flames back in with her perch where she sets it down with a thunk on the floor.

"Mr. Krum," she says," you look like you are very fit; please try to pick that up. Don't strain yourself unnecessarily. This is just to prove a point."

He walks over to it and tries to lift it with one arm, thinking a perch should not be very heavy. He finds that he cannot lift it with just one arm and tries with two. He braces himself with his feet apart and gets a good grip with both hands and lifts it a few inches and puts it back down. Everyone could see the strain on his face as he lifted the perch off the floor.

"Well done Mr. Krum," Hermione says clapping her hands politely," Madame Maxime, with your heritage you should have no trouble with this, but I want you to understand my point. If you would please?"

She walks over to it and lifts it with one hand giving a grunt as she does so.

"It ease quite heavy," she says, curious about what is going on.

"Thank you," Hermione says," the perch weights one hundred twenty kilos." (Approx. 264lbs)

Then she walks over to the perch and with her left hand lifts the perch over her head and tosses it to Harry who catches it and sets it back down.

"Harry and I are Elders," she says," we are invulnerable to injury and we don't need brooms to fly. We will make sure all three of you are kept safe during this tournament. We will not interfere in your competition, so each of you should do the best that you can and of course Harry and I will be rooting for our champion, the same as your schools will root for yours."

Harry turns to the judges," I would like for you judges to score me like you do the others but tone it down a bit. We told the students in the hall we will be participating only. As owners of this school, we already know what the three tasks will be and for me and her, the tasks will be no challenge at all because of our powers. The person that put my name in doesn't know this and will be trying to make sure I win, however we will make it impossible for that person to interfere with the other contestants. Score me at least two points below what you think I should get to make it look fair. You may get some boos from the crowd but it will all be in good fun so don't worry about it."

"The first task will be on the twenty forth of November," Mr. Crouch says," You have until then to figure out what the task is and prepare. Good luck to all champions."

With that said he and Bagman leave the room through a back door to avoid the students in the Great Hall.

"Would you three wait here for a few minutes?" Hermione asks the champions," we would like to speak to you and Madame Maxime before you leave. We will be right back."

She turns to Professor Karkaroff and whispers," Please come with us for a moment. We need to talk to you in private. We may be able to help you if you wish."

He nods warily to them and starts for the door.

"Not that way," Harry says and grabs his arm to stop him. Hermione takes the other arm and the pair phases him out of the room.

This startles the others in the room, especially Krum.

"Don't worry," Professor Dumbledore says," they won't hurt him and if they are going to do what I think, they will be back shortly with your professor."

"What was that," Krum asks," It didn't look like apparition and where did they take him?"

"They call it phasing and they took him somewhere safe. Probably their quarters," Professor Dumbledore answers," I assure you, he is quite safe."

They all settle down to wait while Hedwig sings a song to calm their nerves.

Harry and Hermione materialize, along with Professor Karkaroff in their suite.

"Please, have a seat professor," Harry says.

Karkaroff sits in an arm chair and checks himself over. He has never felt apparition quite like that before.

"Winky," Hermione calls out.

Winky appears and Professor Karkaroff's eyes widen as he takes in her appearance.

"Could you bring the professor some brandy and Harry and I some juice," she asks?

"Right away my lady," Winky says and pops out.

She pops back in a few seconds later with the beverages and serves them, then pops out again.

"Was that an elf?" the professor asks?

"Yes," Hermione answers," she used to be Mr. Crouches house elf," Harry found a way to end the curse put on house elves a thousand years ago. You just have to free them with clothes and then re-bond with them as family or friends, not as servants. Elves love to work and have to be bonded to a witch or wizard to keep their magic. If you have an elf that serves you, free him or her and re-bond as I said and see what happens. If you treat them well, you will have a friend for life. Now the reason we brought you here."

"Yes," Harry takes over smoothly," Hermione and I can sense you have the mark of Tom Riddle on your arm. We have the school warded against anyone with the dark mark being able to enter the premises unless they get our specific permission, or the person with the mark is truly repentant and has redeemed themselves in some way. Since we didn't specifically tell the wards to allow you entry and you were able to enter the school unharmed, we would like to offer to remove the mark for you. It looks to us that you have done well for yourself by being the Headmaster of a prestigious school and teaching our future generation. We can sense you are a good man at heart and are only concerned about the safety of your students. The mark is allowing Riddle to leach some of your magic as he does to all of his marked followers. What he didn't tell you when he marked you is that if he dies, anyone with the mark will die too."

"You mean he is not dead," the professor asks fearfully?

"No," Hermione explains," He used a very dark means of keeping his soul anchored to this plane of existence. That is what we think the person that entered Harry into this tournament is after. He wants to kidnap Harry and use him in a ritual to restore his body. We are going to allow him to do that, so we can keep him alive long enough for his marked followers to die of natural causes. By removing the mark from you, we will insure you stay alive if something happens to him that is out of our control. We have offered this service to any exe death eater from the last war and have had a few takers over the last three years. Professor Snape was our first one and he became a whole new man because of it."

The professor sticks his arm out and pulls up his sleeve to show his mark.

Hermione conjures a stick with a cloth around it and says," This will hurt a bit, so you might want to bite down on this, Bellatrix whimpered a little but held up okay when we removed hers."

"You removed her mark?" he asks surprised," she was one of the worst ones."

"She was put under the influence of a slavery ritual when she turned seventeen and had no choice," Harry says," She was finally able to throw it off and went to Azkaban willingly, after confessing her crimes. We just found out about it this summer and freed her. She is living comfortably with her sisters and is very happy."

"Please proceed," he says," If she can do it, I can too."

"Okay," Hermione says," Here we go. Just relax as much as you can."

The Potters put their hands over his mark and close their eyes to concentrate. Their hands take on a glow as they lift the mark from his arm. The professor grimaces from the pain, but holds his own as the mark lifts from his arm and dissipates. His hands are shaking a little as he sits back when they are done. He takes a few gulps of his brandy to calm his nerves and sits back comfortably to recover. He looks down at his arm and sees clear skin for the first time in a very long time. He feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders and his demeanor becomes more cheerful.

"Thank you Elders," he says," I feel so much better with that thing gone. I think I can do a much better job now for my students."

"I'm glad to hear that professor," Harry says," We better get you back to the waiting room before Mr. Krum gets too worried about you."

They all stand up and the Potter each take an arm and phase him back to the waiting room, where the professor assures everyone that he is just fine.

When they appear, Hedwig starts to sing to Harry and Hermione.

"Are you sure Hedwig," Hermione asks?

Hedwig gives her a look.

"Of course you are," Hermione apologizes," I'm sorry I even asked. This is great news."

"What did she say Hermione," Cedric asks?

The rest look at her funny for talking to a bird, even though the bird is a phoenix.

Harry conjured some more chairs with a wave of his hand, further impressing the visiting students and teachers, and got comfortable with Hermione sitting next to him. She wraps her arm around his and lays her head on his shoulder.

"You may have noticed our robes are different from the regular Hogwarts robes, which are black with their house crest on them and I'm sure you noticed the fifth table in the Great Hall. There is a house in Hogwarts that you can only get into if you have certain qualifications. You can't be sorted there as a first year. We haven't been taking anyone over forth year because we are a new house that was formed in the middle of last year and didn't want to disrupt the older students taking their OWLS and NEWTS this year. We are made up of third and fourth year students who started out as part of our study group from first year on. There is one other reason Hermione and I picked the students we have, although we didn't understand what it was until last year."

"Hedwig just told us that you three have this trait as well," Hermione takes over smoothly from Harry," Let me ask you this. Are you all familiar with what a movie is?"

"Yes," Madame Maxime says," We take our students out once a month for a trip to Paris to teach them about how the non-magical people live. It is part of our muggle studies class. Everyone is required to go."

"We have something similar," Professor Karkaroff says," It is how we keep up with the culture of our country. It is tradition."

"Very well," she says," Have you seen a movie series called Star Wars?"

They all nod, wondering where she is going with this.

Harry and Hermione stand up and move over to one side of the room away from the others.

"This is one of the ways we can protect you if we need to," Harry says.

The group watches as Harry and Hermione each pull the silver tube they had been noticing hanging from a belt loop. They point the tubes away from themselves and press a switch on the side activating their energy swords with a snap hiss sound. The group watches as green glowing rods extend from the cylinders to about a meter in length.

"These are called energy swords, or what the movies coined as Light Sabers," Hermione says as she walks over to a two foot thick support column and slashes her blade sideways, cutting through the column like a hot knife through butter. After a quick Reparo, she deactivates her sword and then returns to her seat with Harry.

"The movies were a dramatization of a war that took place a thousand years ago in another galaxy," Hermione continues," What Hedwig told us is you three have the ability to channel the energy flow that we have taken to calling The Force; after the name coined in the movies for a lack of a better term to call it. We would like to invite you to train with us in Phoenix house every day while you are here. If you don't already know Occlumency, we will train you in that, as well as the Force version of protecting your minds. Learning this will help tremendously in your ability to retain information as you learn it and to organize your mind to channel the force for other things. Think about it tonight and let us know tomorrow if you are interested."

"We will even take you on a tour of our ship if you like," Harry puts in," You're old enough to not need parent's permission and I think you might enjoy it."

"What kind of ship are you talking about?" Professor Karkaroff asks," We are very proud of the Kosimov."

"Our ship is The Phoenix," Harry says," It's not a sailing ship like yours in that it sails on water or under it, though it would if we wanted it to I suppose. It is a space ship and is docked to the International Space Station in orbit around the Earth. We used it to go to the other galaxy where we made our energy swords. We spent fifty years there and learned from Yoda himself. Hermione and I are actually sixty four and sixty five years of age. That is one of the reasons we sound and act older than we look. Our bodies didn't age while we were there as we were on a mission for the Creator when we went."

"You can see our ship using a good pair of omnioculars," Hermione says," Check with Professor Sinistra to get the current location of the station. The station looks like a long cylinder with wings. Our ship is round with a white Phoenix painted on the top and bottom and is slightly larger than the station."

"Okay everyone," Harry takes over from Hermione," Let's go out and greet your fans as it is getting close to curfew. Please enjoy your stay at Hogwarts and if any issues or conflicts come up, tell your students to approach someone wearing the maroon robes of Phoenix house. Everyone in our house has a way to communicate with each other and us. We will come right away and sort out any issues that may come up."

The group gets up and opens the door to find Moody standing there, trying to get in.

"Darn door was jammed," he apologizes," I couldn't find anything wrong with the goblet. It just seems to be inert until the next time it is needed."

Harry, Hermione and Dumbledore all exchange glances. They all know the goblet no longer has any magic and is dead, not merely inert. Further proof this guy is covering something up.

"That's fine Alistor," Dumbledore says," why don't you retire for the evening."

"Thank you Headmaster," he says," I think I will."

He stumps off to the defense office, where he keeps a cot. He refused teachers quarters in favor of just sleeping in his office.

Madame Maxime and Miss Delacour separate to join the French students while Karkaroff and Krum do the same for the Bulgarian students. Harry and Hermione return to the Phoenix house common room to brief the students on what happened and what is expected of them during the tournament.

ooOOoo

The next morning at breakfast the three chosen champions walk over to the Phoenix table.

"May we join you for breakfast," Cedric asks for the group?

"Of course Harry says standing up. He waves his hand and three more chairs appear. They all have a seat and dig in as plates and cutlery, appear for them to use. The visitors are surprised, but pleased to see platters of food from their country appear in front of them. While they are eating, Harry and Hermione explain to them what will be expected from them in their training, should they except.

"Could you give us a demonstration," Victor asks?

"Sure," Hermione says," After dinner this evening we will show you to our house and if you accept, you can each have a room for yourself and any friends you trust to bring along."

They all nod agreement to that idea and each goes off to their respective classes for the day. That evening Fleur and Victor show up with a friend each and are invited in, where Harry and Hermione explain about the meditation techniques they employ and give a demonstration with the energy swords. All three accept the opportunity for the training and Harry conjures watches, rings and pins for them. He explains how the watches work and now the Knights have a person each in France and Bulgaria.

The next two weeks go smoothly and the first task is just around the corner. Harry and Hermione are sitting in potions class one morning when Colin Creevey knocks and then enters the class.

"Sorry professor," he says," I've been sent to get Harry Potter for the weighing of the wands ceremony."

"Very well Mr. Creevey," Professor Snape says," You may go Mr. Potter. I'm sure your wife will bring you up to date on the rest of the class."

"Thank you sir," Harry says.

He gets up and pecks Hermione on the cheek and then follows Colin out the door. Professor Snape just shakes his head at Harry's affectionate display and goes back to teaching the lesson for the day.

Harry follows Colin to a room off to the side of the entrance to the Headmaster's office on the sixth floor.

"I can't follow you in Elder," Colin says," I'm not allowed."

"You are our official photographer so you are allowed in on my say so," Harry replies."

"Thank you Harry," He says and pulls his camera from his back pack and puts the cord around his neck. With camera hanging, he follows Harry into the room where a lady with fifties style pointed glasses and a lurid green dress with a feather collar and sleeve ends tries to grab him to pull him into a broom closet for an interview. She can't seem to budge him, even though she has a strong grip for such a petite woman.

He looks at her and her attire," And you are?"

"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet," She says," And you are Harry Potter. I am here to interview you and your fellow champions. I choose you to go first. If you will step into my office we can get this over with."

She gestures to an open door. Harry looks inside and backs away.

"I assure you Madame," he says indignantly, getting the attention of everyone who had gathered on the other side of the room," I will not step into a broom cupboard with you are any other woman. I am a married man and I respect and love my wife immensely. I will do nothing to give her reason to think otherwise."

The others in the room chuckle at his indignity and her frustration.

"Furthermore, Colin here is my official photographer," he looks at the other champions and they nod," correction, **our **official photographer. If you want photographs to publish for your paper, you will have to buy them from him. He is the only one allowed to photograph us for the tournament."

He waves his hand and her photographer disappears.

"To make myself clear," Harry says," Colin is the only one allowed to take pictures of us in any official capacity and if you muck up this story for the Prophet, you will find yourself unable to find work anywhere within the British Commonwealth. I've read some of your articles and they leave something to be desired. I haven't found a shred of truth in anything you have written in the past. You are in the big leagues now, as the Americans would say. Miss Delacour's father is the French Minister's ambassador to England and his personal friend. Mr. Krum is an International quidditch star, and while Mr. Diggory might not be famous for anything, his father works in our Ministry, so he has an inside track to our own Minister for magic. Your livelihood is on the line here so I would behave if I was you."

"You're just a kid," she says," you can't control what is printed in the press and where is my photographer?"

"I have no desire to control the press as long as the press prints the truth. What you write is pure fiction that you try to pass off as the truth. Your friend is in your office back at the Prophet and cannot leave until you release him. Ask the minister if you need proof I can follow up on my threats." Harry says and then goes to join his fellow champions.

They all nod in approval of how he handled her and Colin stood a little taller at Harry's praise and gets his camera ready for some official photographs of the four champions of the now Quad-wizard Tournament. As they get set up for the interview, Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Ollivander enter the room.

"Good," the professor says," we're all here. Let's get on with the Weighing of the Wands."

Mr. Ollivander steps up and says," Miss Delacour, if you please?"

She hands him her wand and he brings it up to his eyes to examine. He tests the flexibility of the wand and then with a swish he conjures up a canary which flies around the room and out the window.

"Rosewood, nine and a half inches, inflexible with a Veela hair core," he says handing her wand back to her.

"Yes my grandmozeur donated the hair for my wand," she offers.

Mr. Ollivander nods at her and asks Mr. Krum for his wand. He hands it over.

"Hornbeam, ten and a half inches, dragon heartstring, rigid" he says," a Gregorovich creation if I am not mistaken."

"Yes sir," Krum says.

He swishes the wand conjuring another bird which also flies out the window. He asks for Mr. Diggory's wand next.

"Ash, twelve and a half inches, unicorn hair, pleasantly springy," he says as he conjures yet another bird.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Garrick Ollivander says, taking Harry's wand," American Ironwood, eleven and three quarter inches, multiple cores, very rigid. I'm afraid no one but you and Mrs. Potter have the power to cast through this wand. Please demonstrate for us?"

He hands the wand to Harry and he conjures a flock of birds like the rest who fly around the room, causing everyone to duck, before flying out the window.

"Sorry about that," Harry mutters.

"Quite all right my boy," He chuckles," quite all right."

He then declares officially," All of the wands weigh in as acceptable for this tournament."

His picture is taken with the champions and then he leaves the room to return to his shop. After interviewing each of the champions, Rita Skeeter leaves to return to her office to release her friend and photographer Jack Rutiger."

The champions all part to return to their respective classes.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Sorry for the long delay in updating. My school work is taking up a lot of my time. I had a break for a few days so I got three chapters done. These chapters have a lot of science fiction in them so I hope you enjoy them.

Chapter 49: The First Task

The next morning at breakfast the newspaper is delivered and everyone reads the article about the weighing of the wands, along with the interviews of the champions.

"At least Ms. Skeeter got most of her facts right," Hermione comments.

"Yea, it seems she took my warning to heart and asked the minister about us," Harry says, "She even gave Colin credit for the photos. Maybe we can work a deal where she can be our publicist."

"Maybe," Hermione says," If we can convince her to keep certain aspects about us secret. We don't want our resident Death Eater to find out what we are truly capable of."

While they are eating Cedric walks up to their table and asks," Harry, I have a question that's been bothering me from yesterday."

Harry looks up at Cedric and says," Have a seat Cedric. What's on your mind?"

"Well," Cedric says, sitting down," It's the fact that Mr. Ollivander had **you** do the test on your wand. He said only you and Hermione could cast through your wand and that you had multiple cores."

"That's right," Harry says," Our wands aren't wands at all, but staffs reduced to wand size and they have seven cores each. We are the only ones with enough power to cast through them. That is one of the reasons we told you and the other champions that it wouldn't be fair for me to be an actual competitor in the tournament."

"That explains the flock of birds instead of the single bird that was conjured by Mr. Ollivander," Cedric says," Thanks, Harry."

"No problem Cedric."

Cedric returns to his table to finish his breakfast before going to class.

Two days before the first task Professor Moody leaves the castle to run some errands for potion supplies as he is running short on polyjuice ingredients. Professor Snape had reported coming up missing certain items and realizing what they were for, purposefully neglects to restock them in an effort to get the person impersonating Moody to leave the castle. Harry and Hermione also have been monitoring the map on a daily basis in order to search his office for the missing real Moody. After being informed the imposter Moody is gone, the pair phase into the office in case it is warded and spot a seven compartment trunk sitting against a wall. Harry waves his hand across all of the locks and they fall to the floor. The couple looks into each compartment and finds the real Mr. Moody in the third compartment, which is a room that is ten feet deep with a cot and nothing else. They fly down to the bottom and check on Mr. Moody's condition. They find he has been given the Drought of Living Death and use their healing powers to bring him out of it. He wakes up slowly and once the fog clears from his mind he tries to sit up. Harry helps him up into a sitting position on the cot and conjures a prosthetic for his missing leg.

"Take it easy," Hermione says softly to him," You've been out of it for several months."

Mr. Moody looks around at his environment and asks," Where am I and who are you?"

"You are at Hogwarts Mr. Moody," Harry says," You are in a trunk compartment and have been providing hair for an imposter, who is polyjuiced to look like you. We are Elders and are here to get you out. I'm sorry, but we are going to need most of your hair for a ruse to keep the imposter from suspecting you have been found. We don't have much time, so we need to get you out of here and into the hospital wing so you can recover properly."

Mr. Moody watches as Harry conjures a simulacrum and then implants his (Mr. Moody's) hair into its head. He can see the simulacrum looks just like him and is even breathing slowly as if it were under the potion.

"I put a slow growth charm on the hair so it won't run out before the end of the year," Harry says," Let's get you out of here."

Hermione grabs one of his arms and phases him to the hospital wing where Madame Pomfrey sets him up in a private room to keep him hidden from the general student population. Harry flies out of the trunk and reattaches the locks, then joins Hermione in the infirmary.

"What was that lass?" Mr. Moody asks," That didn't feel like apparition."

"We call it phasing as we fade out on one end and fade in at our destination," Hermione explains," Only Harry and I can do it and we can get through any wards because of it."

"Well, it is a very pleasant way to travel," Mr. Moody says," Thank you for the rescue."

"You're welcome," Hermione says," You get some rest now and we will inform Grandpa Dumbledore of your status."

With that said, the Potter's phase back to their rooms and walk to the headmaster's office to give him the news. The gargoyle moves aside as they approach and the couple proceeds up the stairs to the Headmaster's office. Harry knocks on the door.

"Enter," Professor Dumbledore says," what can I do for you Harry, Hermione?"

"We got him out," Hermione answers.

Professor Dumbledore sits up excitedly," You found Alistor?"

"Yes," Harry answers," He was inside a multi-compartment trunk. We replaced him with a simulacrum, so the imposter won't know the difference."

"He's in a private room in the hospital wing right now being tended to by Madame Pomfrey," Hermione adds.

"That is good news," Albus says," I'll go check on him in a little bit. We'll have to put him in a safe house for now until the imposter is taken care of."

"You could see if he would like to take an extended vacation in the States," Hermione suggests," That way he won't have to be cooped up in a house with nothing to do."

"I'll make the suggestion," Albus says," Alistor would make a good addition to our team. He was an excellent Auror and would make the perfect trainer for Defense. That is why I hired him in the first place."

"We know grandpa," Harry says while conjuring a watch, pin and ring," You may fill him in on our story and if he accepts, give him these to make it official. He's welcome to stay in our house in Glendale if he wants. He would probably enjoy the country atmosphere there."

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Albus says," He likes horses so he might like that idea a lot."

"Franklin will key the gate to let him come and go and will drive him wherever he needs to go," Harry says.

"I'll let him know," Albus says," You two better get on to class or you'll be late."

"Okay grandpa," They say together and walk out of his office to their first class for the afternoon.

ooOOoo

The next day passed uneventfully and then the first task was upon them. Harry and Hermione walk down to the quidditch pitch, which has been converted into an arena for the first task. They enter the champion's tent to be officially told what the task is. Of course everyone knows already as it is a bit hard to keep dragons quiet. The champions gather around when Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch enter the tent. Ludo holds up a bag in his hand that wiggles and moves on its own.

"Today's task is to retrieve a golden egg from the nest of a mother dragon," He says," The egg contains the clue for the next task so you need to retrieve the egg if you want to continue. In this bag is a replica of the dragon you will face, along with the order in which you will compete. Miss Delacour, if you please?"

Fleur draws a Welsh Green Dragon, with a number two on it; Krum, a Chinese Fireball, number three; Cedric, a Swedish Short-snout, and number one; Harry, the Hungarian Horntail, and number four.

"There you have it," Ludo says," You each have your dragon and when you hear your name called it will be your turn. Good luck to all of you."

He and Crouch leave the tent and Hermione kisses Harry before she follows them out to the viewing stands.

"Good luck to everyone," Harry says to the other three champions," May the best person win."

The champions pace nervously around the tent while waiting for their name to be called. Soon Cedric's name is announced and with a nervous smile to his fellow champions exits the tent. There is a lot of cheering from the crowd and roars form the dragons as the three champions each achieve their goal of retrieving their egg.

Cedric uses transfiguration to convert some of the rocks into large dogs to distract his dragon as he rushes to get his egg. He almost gets away with it until his dragon spots him and breathes fire at him. Cedric ducks behind a boulder put there for that purpose, but still gets a nasty burn on the side of his face. He runs the last few feet and makes it to the exit, where Madame Pomfrey is waiting with burn ointment.

Fleur's name is called and she exits the tent for her turn. Since veela are creatures of fire she casts a flame freezing charm at her dragon when it shoots it flames at her and dashes in to get her egg while the dragon tries to get thawed out. She almost gets to the exit undamaged when the dragon gets free and singes her robes a bit. She puts the fire out with an Aguamenti charm and then calmly walks out the exit to be checked over by the healer.

Krum is called next and he uses a confundus charm on his dragon by shooting the spells into its eyes. This works for a few minutes as the dragon stomps around the enclosure confused. Krum rushes to get his egg, but the spell wears off and he has to hide behind a boulder to keep from getting fried. He fires his spell again and the dragon stomps around some more. Krum manages to get his egg this time and makes it to the exit unharmed. He gets counted off a few points because the dragon smashed some of its eggs while stomping around. Luckily, the eggs aren't real so no baby dragons were lost.

Harry's turn finally comes and everyone is wondering what he will come up with. Harry walks calmly out of the tent and into the arena. He looks up at the large dragon, looking directly into its eyes.

"_You are a very beautiful dragon," _He sends.

Hermione bursts out laughing when she hears this. The crowd looks at her funny since all they heard was a loud roar from the dragon. Harry is standing there in front of the dragon, apparently just staring at the dragon. The crowd is wondering why the dragon hasn't burned him to a crisp yet.

"_Thank you elder,"_ the dragon sends back_," Why am I here? My eggs smell wrong but I will protect them if you try to take them form me."_

"_The eggs aren't real,"_ Harry sends_," your real eggs are safe back at the preserve. I am to retrieve a golden egg from your clutch."_

The dragon roars again and looks back at her clutch of eggs and spots the golden egg embedded there.

She looks back at Harry and sends_," I need to stretch my wings. Would you release me and fly with me? I promise not to harm anyone."_

"_Can my mate come too,"_ Harry sends?

"_Yes,"_ she sends.

Hermione, who has been monitoring the conversation, squeals in delight and runs down into the arena. To the astonishment of the crowd, the dragon bows down low so Harry and Hermione can climb upon its back. When she stands back up Harry waves his hand to release her from her chain and with a mighty flap of its wings the dragon takes to the air. The trio flies around the forest where the dragon finds a fat juicy deer to dine on. After about twenty minutes more they return to the arena where the dragon picks up the golden egg and hands it to Harry with her mouth.

"_Thank you Madame Dragon," _Hermione sends_," That was most enjoyable. We are honored by you letting us ride on you."_

"_You may call me Elise,"_ the dragon sends back_," and the pleasure was all mine Elders."_

Harry and Hermione head towards the exit while the dragon handlers lead Elise back to the encampment totally in awe of the Potters. The crowd was totally silent during all of this until the end when the Phoenix house students start to clap and cheer for the Potters with the rest of the crowd joining in. The legend of the Elders just wrote another page for the history books.

Harry and Hermione enter the healer's tent where Hermione walks up to Cedric and places her hand on the side of his face. With a soft glow, she heals his burns.

"Thank you Elder," Cedric says," That was awesome watching you fly on that dragon. What did you do to it to keep from being fried?"

Hermione burst out laughing again.

"He flirted with it," she says giggling merrily," Told her she was beautiful. The dragon also knew we were Elders and wouldn't harm her eggs."

The other champions laughed along with Hermione, to Harry's embarrassment, now totally understanding and believing what the Elders were telling them during the choosing ceremony.

The judges all walked into the tent at that moment to give them their standings.

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter," Ludo Bagman says," But after that performance, we couldn't give you anything less than a perfect score. You receive a full fifty points. Miss Delacour you came in second with forty five points, your flame freezing spell was almost perfect. Another few seconds and it would have been."

She nods acceptance of her score.

"Mister Diggory came in third with forty three points. Your transfiguration spell was excellent but you still got burned. Mr. Krum, while you didn't get harmed by your dragon, she damaged some of her eggs while confounded. You are awarded forty points for the first task. The eggs contain the clue for the next task. You have until February twenty forth at nine thirty in the morning to figure it out. That is when the second task will take place. Good luck contestants."

The two young men accepted their score with grace and all of the champions headed up to the castle to celebrate the successful completion of the first task of the tournament.

ooOOoo

As they are walking back to the castle Harry's watch pings to alert him of an incoming call. He looks down at his watch and brings his arm up to open the face.

"Hunter here," he answers.

"Agent Hamilton," Harry hears and then his face appears in the mirror," These things work really well."

"Yes they do," Harry answers," What can I do for you?"

"I'm just delivering a message this time," He says," The packages you ordered are ready for pick-up and delivery."

"Very well," Harry says," Let them know we will pick them up in December on the fifteenth."

"Will do. Hamilton out."

Harry looks over at Hermione and says," Looks like they got them done faster than I thought they would."

"Let's hope they didn't take too many shortcuts trying to get done in a hurry," Hermione says.

"It's been almost a year since we gave them the formula for Trinium," Harry says. I'm guessing they didn't waste any time getting it going in the mills."

"We should check with Dr. Donaldson," Hermione says," I bet she has perfected her hover chair and has expanded by now."

"It's definitely going to be an exciting new year with all of the new technology coming out," Harry agrees.

By the time they have finished their conversation they have arrived at the Great Hall where a general celebration is going on. As the champions enter the Great Hall a cheer rings out amongst the people that attended the event. Everyone gathers around to greet the champions who stand for pictures from Colin before joining the crowd in drinking butter beer and eating finger foods that were set up by the elves. After a good time is had by all, the crowd disperses to their dorms for the evening.

The next morning, after training the students in meditation and the Force, everyone from Phoenix house marches in to breakfast before classes resume. Harry and Hermione approach the Headmaster.

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry says," Hermione and I would like to meet you in your office after breakfast for some news."

"Very well Mr. Potter," Professor Dumbledore says to keep it formal in public, especially with the imposter listening in.

After they have finished eating, the trio walks with the Headmaster to his office which has moved to the fourth floor on the left side.

"How do you keep up with your office moving around all the time grandpa," Hermione asks as they walk?

Dumbledore just laughs and says," You get used to it. I used to get lost when I first started out as headmaster here. The castle likes to keep me on my toes."

Harry and Hermione laughs with their grandfather as they ascend the stairs to his office. He sits behind his desk and asks," What news do you have?"

"It's not really news," Hermione says," Well. I suppose it could be. Harry and I gave the astronauts in the International Space Station some schematics for building sensor packages to distribute around the solar system to monitor the various planets and send back scientific data for them to study. They called yesterday to say they are ready to go. We told them we would pick them up on the fifteenth. What we would like to do is take the champions and their heads with us for the trip, along with Professor Sinistra if they are willing. The trip will take a few days, but we should be back in time for the ball and to go home with the rest of the students for the holidays. What we will need of course is for you to watch over the visiting students while we are gone. If you need us you can call us on your watch and even though we will be a long ways away, we can still return here very quickly in our ship if needed."

"You could just tell everyone we are going on a field trip to explain our absence," Harry puts in.

"Very well Harry," Albus says, "I will let your teachers know you won't be here for that extra week and will fill in for Professor Sinistra."

"Thank you Grandpa," Harry says," Now we just have to ask them if they want to go. This will be something totally new for everyone."

They exit his office and head to their first class for the day. The morning classes go well for the Potters and soon it is time for lunch. When the Potter's enter the Great Hall they approach Headmaster Karkaroff and Madame Maxime to ask for a private meeting with them and the champions. They agree and then the Potters ask Professor Sinistra to accompany them to the anteroom off the Great Hall. When the group arrives they see a table has been set up for the meeting with lunch served. After everyone has eaten, Harry stands up to start the meeting.

"Thank you all for agreeing to come," He says," The reason we asked you here is to see if you would like to go on a little trip with us."

Professor Sinistra speaks up and asks," I can understand why you would ask everyone else to go with you as they are fellow champions, but why me?"

"We thought you might like to see the planets of the solar system up close and personal," Hermione says with a smile.

"You mean I can ride in your ship?" she asks enthusiastically," This is wonderful."

"Yes," Harry says," This is what we called you all here for; to see if you wanted to go. The trip will take about a week so you will need to bring a travel bag. There are plenty of staterooms on the Phoenix with their own washrooms. The lavatories work the same as they do here with runes for hot and cold water and waste disposal. The ship was built in a mundane ship yard, but where it was built, magical and non-magical people live in harmony, each knowing about the other. There is no statute of secrecy in the Intergalactic Community of Planets; it's not needed. That is one of our long term goals for this planet and it has already begun. You will soon begin to see mundane technology that runs on magic in the very near future. This trip will help you get used to it so you can teach your students about what is to come."

"Hermione turns to Madame Maxime and asks," I hope this is not too personal Madame, but I need to ask. How tall are you in feet and inches?"

"I stand eight foot two inches," she responds.

"Good," Hermione says," Our ceilings come in at ten feet, so you won't have to crouch. You should be comfortable. The beds will accommodate you as well."

"In that case, count me in," she says," How will we get there?"

"Hermione and I will phase you all to the ship when the time comes," Harry says," We can have one of the elves bring up your luggage. I think Tippy and Dippy would like to go."

The pair of elves pop in at the sound of their name and nod their heads vigorously in agreement.

"We leave on the sixteenth," Hermione says, then turns to the other champions," there is going to be a Christmas ball when we get back. You might want to ask your significant other to go with you before you leave."

"Thank you for the notice Harry," Cedric says," I'll ask my girlfriend Cho to go with me."

"Are there any rules about champions going with each other," Victor asks?

"Not that I know of," Harry says," Why?"

Victor smiles and turns to Fleur," Would you go with me as a friend? I don't want to have to be stuck with a fan girl and I know you have your own issues with not knowing if a boy is really interested in you for you. I will of course back out if you have a boyfriend."

Fleur smiles back at him," I would love to go with you as a friend. It will solve both of our problems and we can have a good time as well. I don't have a boyfriend right now."

"We will be back in plenty of time to get matching robes," Hermione says," Harry and I have to attend as King and Queen since it is a formal ball."

"Okay," Harry says," If everyone is in agreement, we will meet here for departure after breakfast on the sixteenth. The ship will provide food for us and we will show you how it works when we arrive on board."

"If you have any questions before we leave, just ask," Hermione says," You are all dismissed to go to your afternoon classes."

For those designated to go on the trip the next three weeks seemed to crawl by very slowly. Harry and Hermione continued to train the students in their house and attend classes until the fifteenth of December. On the morning of the fifteen the pair phase up to the ship in orbit around the Earth. They enter the station and greet the commander and other astronauts.

"Good morning everyone" Harry says as he walks in.

"Good morning Elders," Commander Chernov says.

"We are here a day early to pick up the packages and to ask you all a question," Hermione says.

"What is your question," Chernov asks?

Harry and Hermione look at each other and smile.

"Have you read the histories of the Community on the station I set up for you," Hermione asks?

"I have," Lieutenant Vaslovich answers," I've always been interested in history. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn about the Intergalactic Community of Planets."

"Then you know about the Mages and non-Mages in our society," Hermione says," What you might not know is that also applies to this planet. Earth has Mages as well as you normal people without magic. Our mages call themselves witches and wizards and Harry and I are a part of that group, as well as being Elders. We own and run a magical school where we also attend classes. Merlin was a real person and so was King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Harry is a direct descendant from King Arthur and carries his sword, Excalibur. The reason we are telling you all of this is tomorrow we will picking up some visiting dignitaries and fellow champions in an international tournament that is going on at our school. There will be eight of us in addition to your crew. We should be gone about a week and will try to get samples from all of the planets or moons we can. At least the bigger ones."

"One thing we need to warn you about is one of our passengers is half giantess," Harry adds," She stands eight foot two. She won't be able to fit in here but will be fine on the Phoenix. She is a very elegant and refined woman for her size and she is Headmistress of a French magical school. She is one of the dignitaries we mentioned. The other one is Headmaster of a school in Bulgaria. We will have our astronomy teacher with us and the other three champions in the tournament who are the equivalent of high school seniors. Everyone is very excited to go on the trip with us. Hermione and I will allow you to navigate the ship throughout the solar system, so this will be a working trip for everyone except the passengers. We will use the portals to go from planet to planet and fly around each planet to visit the moons. We will land on the larger ones that are safe to land on and let everyone get a feel for each one."

"Who has the shipment and how many packages were built," Hermione asks?

"The Americans handled this set as our factories aren't up to full production yet on the wiring and circuit boards," Commander Chernov says," We will be ready with the next batch. They should be waiting for you at the Sandia Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM. They know you are coming and the population there is used to seeing strange things, so the Phoenix won't be that unusual. Besides, everyone has seen the news and the show you put on in Iraq, along with the one we put on in Korea."

"Very well," Harry says," We will be back in the morning after the sensor packages are loaded and stored. We also have to load up food stores for the trip."

"Okay," Commander Chernov answers for the crew," We will see you in the morning for the start of our mission."

With a nod, Harry and Hermione retreat to the bridge of the Phoenix and power her up for the trip to Albuquerque. They command the ship to release the umbilical and they are away. A few minutes later the ship enters the atmosphere above New Mexico and descends towards the lab. On the ground, people of the city look up as they watch the ship fly slowly overhead towards its destination. Harry lands the ship in a field next to the lab and a truck rolls out to greet them. After shaking hands all around, they get to work loading the fifty five gallon drum size sensors into the cargo hold of the ship. After the ship is loaded Harry and Hermione bid the lab workers farewell and lift the ship for a trip to England to refresh the food stores.

The Potter's bring the ship down to just above the castle to hover near the astronomy tower, which is the highest part of the castle. The Phoenix is still invisible to the students as it hovers there for the night. The castle elves start loading the food stores onto the ship and place them in the proper receptacle for the replicators to send meals to which ever food station on the ship that a request is made. When all the tasks are completed Harry and Hermione retire to their stateroom for a good night's rest. It's going to be a busy week coming up.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 50: The trip starts with a couple of discoveries.**

The next morning, Harry and Hermione get up at their usual time and train in the training room with their energy swords. The students join them soon after they get started by using the training swords provided by the Potters. The swords are basically metal rods that gives a light electric shock if you get hit by one. This is so the students will instinctively learn to avoid touching one, even by accident. After all, an accidental touch by a real energy sword could take an arm off. Once the morning training is completed, the house members get cleaned up and march by twos into the Great Hall for breakfast. They are joined by Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff. The three other champions have been staying in Phoenix House because they have private quarters there. Fleur liked the idea that none of the house members are affected by her veela allure and Krum likes the privacy he gets from fans. Cedric just likes having a room to himself. They are soon joined by Professor Sinistra and everyone is engaged in conversation about the trip.

"Has everyone got what they need for our journey," Harry asks?

"Yes," Professor Karkaroff answers," You said we will be gone for a week, yes?"

"Yes," Hermione answers," Each stateroom on the ship has a clothing fresher if you need your clothes cleaned while we are gone. Kind of like house elf service for cleaning your clothes."

The purebloods nod their understanding of the reference.

Harry turns to Neville and says," Neville, you will be the leader of our house while we are gone. The rest of you refer to him if you need assistance. We can still return to Hogwarts quickly if an emergency comes up that you all can't handle. While I don't think that will happen, you can still contact us on your watches for advice if needed."

"Very good sire," Neville says," You can count on me to be your champion from now on."

"Thank you Neville," Hermione says," We will make it official when we get back."

"Thank you sire," Neville says with a bow of his head.

"What do we have to do to board your ship Harry," Cedric asks?

"Just a minute," Harry answers," and we will find out. I need to talk to the Headmaster for a minute."

Harry walks up the center table where the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall are eating.

"Have you seen Professor Moody this morning?" Harry asks," I'd like to bring the Phoenix down so everyone can see her. Everyone in the school knows we are Elders, except for him. So far, even the Slytherins are keeping quiet about our activities."

"I think that has to do with Hermione being a Slytherin by birth, even if not by house," Dumbledore says," Professor Moody is off to London on an errand for me and won't be back until tonight. I anticipated you might not want him to know about the Phoenix. As far as he knows, Lord Potter is treating the champions and their heads to an extra week of vacation for the holidays and will be back in time for the ball on the twenty third."

"Thank you," Harry says," I'm glad you did that so you can see the ship as well. We will land it on the road to Hogsmead as it needs a bit of room to land. If you want to students to watch the landing, have them outside in thirty minutes."

"Very well Harry," he says and walks to the lectern to make the announcement.

"Attention students," Dumbledore says," You are in for a treat this morning. If everyone will gather on the front lawn, you will get to see a real live space ship in just a few minutes."

Harry nods at him and instructs his traveling group to meet at the front gates for a short walk to board the ship. Harry and Hermione take each others hand and phase to the ship hovering above the castle. They sit in their command chairs and move the ship out to sea a bit to make an entrance. After waiting a few minutes to allow the students to gather, Harry flies the ship slowly over Hogsmead and disengages the cloak, allowing the ship to fade into view. The residents of Hogsmead are startled at first but recognize the bird painted on the bottom of the ship.

"Must be the Elders," someone exclaims as they all rush out to watch it fly over.

The students watch, as the ship comes to a stop about a hundred feet in the air while the landing struts are lowered, after which it settles gently on the ground. The lights around the rim of the ship slow down to a pace where they can be seen as individual lights moving around the edge. A door opens at the top of the landing strut nearest the school and two people walk down the stairs to greet them. The students are all in awe of the ship and respect for the Potters rise exponentially, along with pride in their school to have them as leaders. The couple walks up to the traveling group.

"Is everyone ready," Harry asks?

"Yes," Professor Karkaroff says," I'm impressed with your ship Master Potter. It's bigger than I expected."

"It looks big when it's on the ground," Harry says as they walk towards the ship," It is on the small to medium size range for an average space ship. We landed this in a docking bay of a spherical ship that is one hundred sixty kilometers in diameter. You know the one I mean if you've seen Star Wars."

"You really landed on the Death Star Harry," Fleur asks?

"Yes we did," Hermione answers for him," We converted it into a place for commerce and trade. It became a very popular place to work before we left."

By this time the group has reached the ship and ascended the stairs. Harry leads them all to a stateroom and shows them how to work the fresher for the cloths and how to order food from the food stations. Then everyone makes their way to the bridge where Harry and Hermione assumes their seats in the command chairs. A group of chairs rise out of the floor for the rest to sit in with a touch of a pad on Hermione's control panel and everyone gets comfortable for the flight up to the space station. The students and people of Hogsmead watched as the lights around the rim speed up to become a blur as the ship rises off the ground and retracts the landing struts. Then the ship takes off so fast, it looks like it just disappeared. The group inside look out the windows of the bridge to watch the horizon take on its rounded shape as the curvature of the Earth becomes obvious.

"This is like our carriage," Madame Maxime comments," No sensation of movement even though we are traveling at great speed."

"The ship has very good inertial dampeners," Hermione explains," We will be stopping at the International Space Station to pick up our crew of astronauts. They are a combination of Americans and Russians under the command of Commander Chernov. They are muggles, but know of the magical world due to us being Elders and they know about the make-up of the Intergalactic Community of Planets, which is a mixture of magical and non-magical peoples."

Just then the station comes into view.

"Wow," Professor Sinistra says," It doesn't look that big in my telescope."

"Yea," Harry answers," It's hard to tell scale without a point of reference. We are docking now. Just keep your seats as we get set up for the first leg of the trip."

Harry brings the Phoenix alongside the station and extends the umbilical to the airlock. As the docking is proceeding the magical passengers observe more seats coming out of the floor around the bridge with panels rising up and activating. The crew from the station enters the bridge and the airlock closes with the umbilical retracting.

"Stations everyone," Harry commands.

The crew walks to their assigned station and after seating themselves, log in.

"Comm." Hermione orders," Contact Earth Command and let them know we are ready for departure. Tell them they will receive the first data packet in thirty minutes."

"Aye, Aye ma'am," Comm. officer Ensign Sato acknowledges the order.

"Navigator please request and put in the coordinates for Mercury," Harry says," We will start there and work our way outwards."

"Aye sir," Navigator Vaslovich says and busies herself on the computer.

Hermione turns back to the passengers," It will take a couple of minutes for Lieutenant Vaslovich to get the computer set up. If you need to use the loo, there is a fresher at the back of the bridge. We won't leave until you are ready."

Everyone takes a turn at the fresher before returning to their seat in anticipation of the next event. Once everyone is settled from their visit Chenka touches a pad on her console and the magicals and crew watch as the portal forms outside the ship.

"Take us though navigator," Harry orders.

"Aye sir, here we go," Chenka responds.

The background hum increases as the ship gracefully enters the portal to be translated to the exit point in orbit around Mercury. Upon full translation the portal collapses and the Phoenix is now in orbit.

"Ops, if you will scan the planet for a suitable insertion point for our package and give the coordinates to the navigator, we can get started," Harry orders.

"Aye sir," Lieutenant Commander Sheffield answers.

"Science officer Chernov," Hermione says," "Please scan the planet for any samples you want to bring back to Earth. Get with Engineer Rhodes to see if there are any elements the replicators could use to manufacture parts for a ship like this. They will be flagged on your screens if your scans pick any up. The sooner we can get another ship like this built, the sooner we can start mining the asteroids and other planets for materials to build additional ships and even bases on other moons and planets."

"Aye Ma'am," Chernov says," I like the way you think. Always analyzing and making the best of our situation."

"That's my Hermione," Harry says proudly," We all have tasks to do. Let's get on it."

With that said the couple approaches the observers watching all of the activity in amazement.

"Well," Harry asks them," What do you think about all this?"

"I'm amazed at how well they follow your orders," Karkaroff says," You run a fine ship."

"Hermione and I are co-Captains of the Phoenix and we know her like you know your ship," Harry says," These people are all military officers and know how to work as a team. We have people here from three countries just like in the tournament. We want to show you how well non magical people work together when needed. They know this ship works on a combination of magic and mundane technologies and are okay with it. This will happen all over the Earth in the next few years and it won't be long till the Statute of Secrecy will no longer be needed."

"Professor Sinistra?" Hermione asks," What do you think of Mercury so far?"

"It looks like the moon," She answers," Though, I didn't expect much with it being this close to the sun."

"You are correct in that it wouldn't look like much," Hermione states," It has very little atmosphere or inclination. Only seven degrees and because of its closeness to the sun it is either way too hot at eight hundred degrees on the day side or too cold at minus two hundred eighty on the night side."

"I wasn't aware of those details," Professor Sinistra says," They don't teach that to Astronomy apprentices. Only where the planets are located and how they move across the skies."

"Follow me," Harry instructs.

Harry leads the group over to the back of the bridge where the backup auxiliary stations are and touches a few pads on a control panel. Six panels swing up with chairs rising from the floor. With another touch of a pad, all the consoles come to life. He types a few commands into the computer and menus appear on each screen.

"These screens will give you access to our library," Hermione says," Just spell out the words you want to look up on the touch pads and you can get information on just about anything. If you want to know the details about fish, spell the word fish and you will get all kinds of information about different fish. My suggestion is to start out by reading a short history about the Intergalactic Community of Planets so you can understand us better. This is where Earth is headed so you might want to teach your students Professors, or tell your fellow students about us. This will help keep you from getting bored since you can't actually participate in the work being done so far. That might change as we progress through the solar system. If we find elements the replicators can use, you can help in sorting them in the cargo bay after parts have been replicated. This is standard practice in the Community when a new solar system is discovered."

"Don't worry," Harry adds," We will get your attention before any major happenings so you can watch."

The group nods and turns to their screens to start reading. The ship starts to descend toward the planet's surface and everyone watches as they approach the ground. The ship settles in the chosen place for the package insertion point and the ops officer activates the command to insert the package. A port opens up on the bottom of the ship and a beam of light drills a hole in the ground to anchor the sensor package, which is then placed into the hole by a tractor beam, leaving one third of the package above the surface where it starts to transmit its data back to Earth.

"That, gentlemen and ladies, is also how you mine an element if you find one," Harry states," If the scanners find an element on the list, use the cutting beam to cut around the ore and the extractor beam will pull it out of the ground. It will automatically be placed into the replicators, which will then use the raw material to replicate the parts we need."

Everyone enthusiastically gets back to work as they scan the planet and start pulling various ores from the ground. After about six hours of this and lunch, Harry calls a halt to the operation.

"Okay," Harry says," It looks like Mercury is a rich planet in the elements we need to make more ships like this one. We can come back later after exploring the rest of the system if we still have time. Let's prep for our next stop at Venus. Everyone knows what to do."

ooOOoo

After a few minutes of wait time the portal appears and Chenka moves the ship through. They arrive in orbit about a mostly greyish white planet fully covered in clouds.

"I'm getting some strange readings here Captain," Science officer Chernov says without thinking while looking at his screen.

"I concur," Ops officer Sheffield agrees," It looks like there is life on this planet. Our earlier probes never showed anything like this. It should be way too hot due to runaway greenhouse effect because of the clouds."

Harry and Hermione look at each other and separate to check the reading on each screen; Harry at Chernov's, Hermione at Sheffield's station.

"Cloak the ship," Hermione orders," We are going in to investigate."

"Aye Ma'am," Sheffield responds as he picks up on her tone of voice and types in the command.

The Potters return to their command chairs and puts their hands into the control slots. Shields snap into place around the ship as Harry directs the Phoenix into the cloud bank. Harry and Hermione's fingers are moving rapidly as they compensate for the high wind speeds inside the cloud cover. They break though at ten thousand feet above the surface of the planet into a rain storm. The wind is blowing hard and causing the shields to shimmer as they fly the ship through the storm. After a few minutes the Phoenix flies out of the storm into a dim atmosphere due to the little bit of light getting through the clouds. They descend to a thousand feet and observe what appears to be vegetation and short trees. Everything is all a sickly yellowish color. They fly along looking for a place to implant the sensor package when they run across a clearing in the vegetation. Inside the clearing looks like rows of purplish orange looking plants. There is even a dwelling of some sort in one corner of the clearing.

"Is that a farm," Cedric asks?

"Sure looks like one," Chenka says.

"That looks like a road or a trail," Madame Maxime points out the window to a straight line headed off towards the north.

"Readings," Harry asks?

"The atmosphere is made up of ninety nine percent carbon dioxide, with traces of nitrogen and oxygen." Chernov says," That coincides with findings from our earlier probes, as does the pressure. I don't see how life could survive here? It is the exact opposite of Earth."

"This is proof that not all life is like us," Harry says," Let's follow the road to see where it goes."

Harry guides the ship along the road and the fields become more numerous as they approach what looks to be a city. There is traffic on the roads that looks like some form of cars, but without wheels.

"Looks like they are fairly advanced," Harry comments," Hermione, see if you can find a data center such as a library or something."

"Scanning," she says," found one. Hold on a minute. These beings are native to this world and evolved from the oceans. Their history shows no myths or legends about space or anything beyond the clouds. The general population believes there is nothing beyond the clouds as they have never seen anything to indicate otherwise. With no moon or stars to be seen and all of the sun's light diffused by the clouds, no one ever looks up at the sky and wonders what's out there. The atmosphere and pressure is deadly to humans outside a ship like this and I don't think they could survive in any other environment either without similar protection. There is no threat here; these people deserve to live their lives without our interference. This planet is off limits to all others by order of the Elders of the Universe. If they venture into space someday, we will be there to greet our brothers and sisters from our sister planet. We're leaving."

The Phoenix lifts into the cloud bank on its journey back to orbit. Back on the ground in the government center the leaders are gathered around their version of a monitor with shows the Phoenix above the city, despite the cloak making it invisible to the populace. They listen in as they hear the Elders declaration.

**_"This planet is off limits to all others by order of the Elders of the Universe. If they venture into space someday, we will be there to greet our brothers and sisters from our sister planet. We're leaving."_**

"This is good news," one of the leaders warbles," No more unnatural things falling from the clouds."

"It sounded sincere in its declaration," The main leader warbles," We have no need to find out where it came from, but I think it would help us if a natural disaster struck, such as a large rock falling from the clouds, like in the past. We could point the transmitter to the clouds and send a request if necessary."

"If that happens we would just return to the oceans until the disaster passes and rebuild again," another leader warbles.

"True. Life goes on," the leader warbles," The crisis is over, let's return to our homes."

Up in orbit the crew gathers for a quick meeting.

"Place one of the sensor packages in synchronous orbit around the planet to warn us if anyone disobeys our edict," Harry commands.

"This is for their protection as well as ours," Hermione states," They were monitoring us as we were scanning them. Their technology is very advanced and even with their technology, they still think we came from the clouds and have no understanding about space or the stars."

"You probably noticed," Harry adds," There were no airplanes or anything that flew. No birds or flying animals. They are probably afraid to approach the clouds and the unknown. Let's head to our next destination, the moon."

"The back side of the moon is towards the sun at this point in its orbit and will be all lit up for us to explore," Hermione says to get everyone back on track.

Navigator Vaslovich sets the coordinates for the portal and the Phoenix gracefully moves through. They come out on the other end above the backside of the moon. As they are scanning the moon for a place to put one of the sensor packages a flash catches Harry's eye. He looks out the window and sees the flash again.

"James," Harry says while looking out the window," Please direct your scans towards that large crater near the North Pole. I saw a flash like a reflection."

"Aye sir," he says and redirects as ordered," There's something metallic down there. You think it could be an old probe?"

"I don't know," Harry answers," You may be right, but send the coordinates to Chenka and we will check it out."

She receives the coordinates and directs the ship to that spot and brings her down gently. Everyone, including the magical observers head to the landing deck where Harry alters a space suit to fit Madame Maxime, where Hermione instructs her how to put it on. Harry and Hermione don suites so they can communicate over the radios to the others.

"Remember everyone," Harry instructs," the gravity here is only one sixth of Earths, so you will bounce a little more than normal. Just don't kick too hard or you might go further than you want. The suites won't tear so don't worry about that. If you get too uncomfortable, you can return to the ship. No will think less of you for it. Not everyone is cut out for this type of thing."

Once everyone is suited up and in the airlock Harry cycles the air out and opens the outer door.

"Slow and easy," Hermione says over the suit radios as they make their way down the stairs.

When they get to the bottom Harry spots the reflection again and leads the group over to it. He discovers a flat, shiny piece of metal has been uncovered and is embedded into the side of the crater. He waves his hand over it to clear away the dust and discovers a door with a touch pad next to it with blinking lights. Not having the code to open the door he puts his hand on the pad and concentrates. His hand glows momentarily inside his glove and he feels the door click as it opens. The door slides sideways into the wall on the right and as he enters the area behind the door lights come on revealing a hundred meter long by fifty meter radius tube with doors at the other end.

"This is an airlock," Hermione declares as she enters behind him," The door is for personnel and the tube a ship, possibly a shuttle as its too small for anything larger."

As soon as the outer door closes they hear air flowing into the tube. The group makes their way to the other end of the tunnel to the doors there. Harry repeats the procedure and the door opens. He leads the way into a cavernous room with a single ship birthed there. It is about forty meters long and could be described as a flattened cigar with pointed ends and a ring around it about three fourths of the way from the front end.

"There's your shuttle Hermione," Harry says as he takes his helmet off and sniffs.

He nods to the others and they remove their helmets and clip them to their belts.

"Yea," she says," I wonder who it belongs to and why it was left behind when they abandoned the base?"

"Let's see if we can find a control room or something," Harry suggests.

The group splits up to search the base and after a few minutes Victor calls out," I've found something."

They all converge on his position and Harry does his hand thing again to open the door. They follow him into what looks like the control center for the base where he sits down at one of the terminals and looks over the keyboard.

"Looks a little like galactic basic," Hermione comments.

"Yes it does," Harry says," Let's try a basic command and see if it works."

He types in a command on the keyboard and all of the status lights come on and the monitors around the room light up. They show various sections of Earth, as if the planet was surrounded by cameras.

"I've found the final log entry," Hermione declares from the terminal she had turned on," It might clear up what was going on here and why they were monitoring our planet."

She hits the play button and a voice comes out of the speakers. Hermione translates for the others as it speaks.

"Earth Base commanders last log entry. We have to abandon this installation as the Humans have developed a primitive form of space flight. We detected the launch of one of their rockets towards the moon. While they are no danger to us, they are too primitive and aggressive to be allowed to discover this facility. It would be detrimental to their natural development to discover they are not alone in the galaxy at this point. One of our shuttles has a non-functioning warp drive so we will have to leave it behind. I refuse to self-destruct the facility as it would create more questions for the humans if they found a large hole in the surface of their moon obviously caused by an explosion. We will cover it sufficiently so that when they do discover the base they will be sufficiently advanced enough to know what to do with it. This will be our gift to the humans to welcome them to a wider galaxy. On a more personal note; I know it is illogical to make this statement, but I hope they don't blow themselves up with their bombs. They show so much promise and will be a welcome addition to the galaxy as a whole. Commander Soren out."

"He was right," Hermione confirms," If it weren't for us, you might not have discovered this base for another couple of hundred years, if at all, assuming there is no world war three. You would have had no reason to even look. Even Harry found it by accident. Let's find out where they came from and see if we can return their shuttle to them. The moon missions were only thirty years ago so this Commander Soren might still be alive."

Everyone agrees this is more important than planting sensors on planets in the solar system. They have some true aliens to find and they sound like they would be beneficial to mankind to get to know.

Since only Harry and Hermione could read the data, they search through the data base and find the alien's home star to be 40 Eridani, only sixteen light years away in the opposite direction from the penal colony planet that they set up. After finding the location on the star charts the pair observe that clues were left behind, but no names other than the Commander's log. No pictures of what they looked like or the name of their species. It is assumed they aren't human or they wouldn't have referred to Earth peoples as humans in a clinical sense. After reading the data base all of the data is stored in the couple's Nano-Probes, so they proceed out into the hanger to check out the shuttle.

After gaining entry Harry looks over the star drive and smirks.

"And they called us primitive," Harry says.

"Harry you have to see it from their perspective," Hermione says while looking over at the group," sorry guys but to the aliens, you will still be considered primitive until you develop faster than light travel on your own. That has always been the key to when a planet is admitted into the Community. It looks like they have the same rule. The trouble is, to Harry and me, these aliens are primitive. Their form of FTL would take years to cross a galaxy, something we can do either instantly with our portals or in about two days with the hyper-drive in the Phoenix. When you are ready to explore this galaxy in earnest, you will be ahead of them thanks to us, if we don't help them out as well. Colonies are already starting to form on the outer reaches of this galaxy and will spread inward as time goes by. Earth is about half way between the outer arm and the center of this galaxy so we have a few hundred years to get established on our own if that is what we want. The community will allow that, so here is our chance to get started."

"Okay," Harry says," I say we install a Hyper-Drive into this shuttle as a gift to them for the base and allow them to continue to use the base if they will help us as needed. Once we get more of our own ships built, we can join with them and form our own community."

"That sounds like a good plan Harry," Hermione agrees," The Creator gave us free rein with our ship and he will still get full credit as we are his creations. And we will be here to keep the peace for a very long time to come."

"I love you so much Hermione," Harry says as he kisses her passionately. They break off from the kiss and look over at the group, who are all on their knees with their heads bowed.

"What's going on," Harry asks quietly?

"You were glowing when you kissed," Chernov says," You truly are God's children."

"No need for that now," Harry says passionately," We are all children of the Creator of All Things. Hermione and I are his messengers and his tools. We live to serve his will in all things. And his will is for the human race to survive and we will make sure that happens. That is why we are worried about some terrorist group getting hold of a nuclear weapon and smuggling into a large city and setting it off. We are hoping by showing our hand that they will realize the Earth is not alone in the galaxy and these aliens might be able to help out a bit in that regard. We are hoping they will realize their petty squabbles are just that; petty. The universe is a very large place and if they don't like the way other people live, then they can colonize their own planet and live the way they want. Let's get to work on this shuttle and none of this kneeling nonsense."

Harry and Hermione phase to the Phoenix to get a spare Hyper-Drive unit to install in the shuttle. After installation, the couple split up with Harry taking the shuttle and Hermione leading the group back to the Phoenix. Harry inputs the coordinates for 40 Eridani and lifts the shuttle. With a push if a button on the control panel in the shuttle the inner airlock doors open and he guides the shuttle into the airlock where the inner doors close and the outer ones open.

On the Phoenix Hermione takes her seat and inserts her hands into the slots on the arms of her seat.

"Comm, open a channel to command on Earth," Hermione orders.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 51: First Contact**

"Comm open," Comes the response.

"Earth Command, this is Elder Huntress," Hermione says, causing everyone to look up at the new name," We are leaving the solar system to return an artifact we found on the back side of the moon to its rightful owner. We will return in a couple of days, Phoenix out."

"Acknowledged," comes the response, "Good luck."

As she finishes her transmission Harry exits the base and joins her above the planet in the shuttle. With a countdown of three, both ships enter hyper-space at the same time for the trip to the alien's home world.

"The trip will take about ten minutes," Hermione says," there is time for a quick break if you want one. Get some coffee or tea, use the fresher, whatever."

No one moved as they are all too anxious about what they will run into when they arrive at their destination. Harry and Hermione pass the time talking.

"_This is a nice little ship,"_ Harry sends_," It would make a great personal boat for just us to tool around the galaxy in for sight-seeing."_

"_It is a nice design,_" Hermione sends as she looks out the window at the sleek red ship_," Needs to be a little darker maroon color though and a Phoenix needs to be put on each side of that ring_ _drive."_

"_Yea, it could use a personal touch,"_ Harry sends back, an alarm sounds in the background;" _Coming up on our destination, prepare to revert to normal space."_

"Stand by to revert to normal space," Hermione commands.

Everyone sits up straighter in their seats and attends to their screens in anticipation.

ooOOoo

On a ship orbiting the only inhabited planet in the 40 Eridani system the ops officer calls out.

"Two unscheduled ships have entered the system," He says," Their method of entry was most unusual. They don't have warp signatures, nor do I recognize the type of drive they are using."

"Put them on the screen," the captain orders.

The screen switches on to show a saucer like black ship with a bird painted on the bottom and the other ship looks like one of their shuttles.

"We aren't missing any shuttles are we," the Captain asks?

"No sir," the officer answers.

"We're being hailed," the Comm officer reports!

"On screen," The Captain commands again.

A picture of a fourteen year old human boy comes up on his screen and he raises an eyebrow," This is Captain Soren, what can I do for you young human and if I may ask, how did you come by one of our shuttles?"

The face of the boy on the screen breaks out into a wide grin," Are you the same Soren that was commander of the Earth observation post on their moon?"

"I am," the Captain answers, his curiosity peeked.

"Then you are the one I want to speak to," the young man answers," My name is Harry Pendragon and my wife Hermione is piloting the Phoenix. We are from Earth and wanted to return your shuttle to you with a few improvements. Looks can be deceiving Captain and we want to talk to you. You may need permission from your superiors for what we have in mind so feel free to invite them to the meeting. We can meet on your ship or mine. At any case the shuttle is yours to study and use. Do you have room in your docking bay for it?"

"Yes," The Captain says while looking at his Ops officer.

"The ship is clean except for the strange drive system I am reading," he says.

The Captain looks back at the screen and says," Look for a shuttle bay at the rear of my ship. It will open as you approach, I will meet you there."

"Very well, Little Phoenix out." Harry returns.

The Captain raises his eyebrow again as he gets up from his seat and walks to the turbolift for the ride to the shuttle bay.

On the Phoenix, Hermione stands up and orders," Commander Chernov, you have the con. I will be joining Harry on that ship when he docks. Keep the Phoenix here unless ordered otherwise. You're people make up a good crew and if we have to land on the planet below I trust you to do a good job of it. Harry and I will be alright and this ship is impervious to anything they might have if things were to get hostile. I don't think it will, but I just wanted to reassure you everything is going to be alright."

With that she disappears.

Earlier, on the larger ship, the Captain waits by the shuttle bay observation window as the air is evacuated from the docking bay to allow the shuttle to dock. The doors open and he watches as the young human brings the shuttle in to a perfect landing.

"_He certainly knows how to fly a shuttle,"_ the Captain thinks.

The doors close and Captain Soren exits the observation room and enters the shuttle bay to greet Mr. Pendragon. As Harry exits the shuttle he observes the Maroon robes with the runes and the silver cylinder hanging at his waist. The young man walks down the short ramp to the floor and walks up to the Captain and stops.

"Hold on just a minute so my wife can join us," the young man says, holding up a hand.

The Captain starts to ask what he means when a young woman materializes next to him. Harry takes her hand in his and kisses her briefly on the lips.

"Captain Soren, may I introduce you to my wife Hermione Pendragon nee Granger," Harry says.

"You speak Vulcan very well," Captain Soren states matter-of-factly.

"Vulcan," Harry states," the language is Intergalactic Standard for us. Is your race Vulcan then?"

"Affirmative," the Captain answers.

Harry looks around the docking bay and asks," How do you want to handle our meeting? We are uninvited guests in your system and we aren't familiar with your customs yet. We listened to your logs on the base and inferred that you are a peaceful race that has high hopes for our planet. We too have high hopes for our planet since we were born there, but we think we might need your help to calm some of the hot heads down. Is there a meeting room we can use?"

The Captain nods and leads the way to a room off the shuttle bay with a table and chairs. The Captain has brought his first officer and Ops officer along to hopefully get some answers to questions he has. After everyone is seated the Captain starts.

"You stated that looks can be deceiving when I called you a young human," Soren says.

"Before we answer your questions Captain Soren," Hermione starts," We have a couple that will hopefully help establish a dialogue with a common base of reference."

"Go ahead," the Captain nods.

"This question may sound strange since you are not human and it may not apply to your race, but here goes," Harry says.

"Do you have people on your planet that show unusual or different abilities from the norm," Hermione asks," Let me show you what I mean."

She extends her right arm out and a rod ejects from her sleeve into her hand.

"This is called a wand," she says," A magic wand and here is one of the things it is used for."

She points it to an unoccupied portion of the table and with a flash of light, conjures a perfect replica of the shuttle Harry arrived in. She picks it up and hands it to the Captain to examine.

"That is called conjuration," Harry says," "You are correct in your earlier memory Captain. I did say that looks can be deceiving. Hermione and I are called mages, amongst other things. We are known on Earth and in the Intergalactic Community of Planets as the Elders of the Universe."

Harry continues," Hermione and I are physically fourteen and fifteen years of age. In reality, we have lived sixty four and sixty five Earth years. We spent fifty years in another galaxy helping to rebuild its economy from a galaxy wide war."

"Not possible," The Ops officer says," It would take several lifetimes to travel to another galaxy."

"For you that is correct," Hermione answers," Your form of faster than light travel is slow compared to ours. Humans have been in this universe for billions of years. We have colonized twenty eight galaxies so far and this one is the newest. Colonies are starting up on the outer rim of this galaxy as we speak. Colonization is a slow process so we have several hundred years before the general population reaches this far into the Milky Way. From examining the shuttle you left behind we determined it would have taken it about fifteen to twenty days to get here using the warp engines it has. We got here in ten minutes with the Hyper-drive we installed in it this morning."

"So that is the odd signature coming from the shuttle," the ops officer says.

"Yes," Harry answers," with a hyper-drive engine installed in your large ship here you could travel from one end of the galaxy to the other in about two days running full out. At standard cruise speed you can make it in about four."

"Even at those speeds it would still take years to travel between galaxies," The ops officer states emphatically.

"That is true," Hermione states," But we also have the Shigsu drive. Harry and I call it our portal drive. We use it for distances where time dilation would come into effect at sub light speeds. It wouldn't do to travel at .9c and discover years have passed in the real world while we were traveling. I'm sure you understand the effect."

Everyone in the room nods in agreement.

"You called it a portal drive," the science officer asks," What does it do?"

"Well," Harry says," We put coordinates for our departure and arrival points in our computer and the drive creates a portal on our end and an exit point on the other. Through the portal on our end you can see your destination but anyone on the other end can't see you."

"What it does in reality is fold space so that the two points are right next to each other and we can go from one galaxy to another in an instant," Hermione says," Due to the ease with which an unscrupulous leader could use this technology to send an invading army to another planet we will hold back how to build the drive until we can trust the governments we run into with the information. We don't think your government would use it like that from what we were able to infer from the data we gathered from the base on our moon, but you now know it is not just a theory."

"We haven't had a war in over a billion years," Harry says," Oh, we have our criminals, just like everyone else, but they are handled by the police."

"What would you like us to help you with," Captain Soren asks?

"Mine and Hermione's main fear," Harry says," is the same one you mentioned in your last log entry. Since you left, the cold war has died and the Americans and Russians get along a lot better. There is no longer the threat of mutual annihilation that existed back when you were observing us. The rocket you mentioned seeing on a trajectory for the moon was the first manned moon landing. They stayed for a couple of days and went back home. You were not in danger of being discovered. Heck, we found your installation by pure accident because of a reflection of light from part of the airlock door that had become uncovered in a moon quake. We were scanning the moon's back side while it was exposed to the sun for elements and a good place to plant a sensor package. The fear right now is we have a bunch of religious hot heads that wouldn't think twice about smuggling a nuclear warhead into a major city and setting it off, if they could get their hands on one. Probably somewhere in America; like New York City. They think that western civilizations and their democracies is an affront to their religious beliefs because they allow freedom of religion."

"Primitives," one of the Vulcan officers comments.

"You are right," Hermione agrees," They are primitive in their beliefs. If they truly understood what The Creator really thought of their actions they would stop."

"Who is this Creator you refer to?" The Captain asks," You don't believe in Gods do you?"

"The Creator of all Things is just what he sounds like," Harry says," He is the entity that created this universe. He made it possible for your race to evolve and he had a direct hand in creating Hermione and me. We are his messengers and we are immortal."

"Harry is right," Hermione says," We are immortal and cannot die, but we are only two people. Despite our powers, we are not gods and will not force our will on anyone."

She looks around at the gathered officers and can see in their eyes that they do not believe them.

She sighs and says exasperatedly," What will it take to convince you that we aren't just a couple of well-educated kids out on a joy ride in daddy's flying saucer?"

Harry stands up and walks over to his wife and gives her a hug to calm her down. He looks around at the officers and then at the metal table.

"Is this table made from the same material as your ship's hull," he asks the Captain?

"Yes it is," the Captain says," why ask such an obvious question?"

"If everyone would stand up and move to the side away from the table, I will show you," Harry says," We are going to show you we know what we are about."

Everyone stands up and moves to the side when they see him take the silver cylinder from his belt. With a snap hiss a green energy rod extends from the handle as he turns it on.

"This is called an energy sword or what non-magical people call a light saber."

He swiftly brings the blade down and slices the table in half. The two pieces fall to the side with a clunk. Hermione waves her hand across the area the table was sitting and the table repairs itself. With another wave of his hand Harry expands the room to be twice as large as it was before.

"Someone go out the door and look around and then come back in and tell me what you see," Harry suggests.

The science officer does what Harry suggests by walking out the door and looking around. Everything looks normal outside the door. He walks back in and then around the room counting his steps in his head as he goes taking measurements.

"What are your findings, commander," Captain Soren asks?

"The room is twenty meters by ten," he says," twice the size it was. There is no change outside to indicate the room is any bigger than it should be."

"That was done with my magic," Harry says," This is done by my powers as one the Elders of the Universe."

Harry walks over to a wall and places his hand on it. He closes his eyes in concentration and his hand starts to glow. One of the officers tries to move to make him stop in fear for the ship. (Even though Vulcans don't show their emotions, they have them.) He finds he can't move. None of them can.

"What is he doing to my ship," Captain Soren demands!

"Nothing harmful," Hermione assures them," Now be quiet so he can concentrate."

The glow from his hand spreads out and eventually encompasses the whole ship with a yellow orange glow. The comm channels are going wild as everyone is trying to find out what is happening. Outside the ship several more ships have arrived to investigate the newcomers.

Hermione's watch pings to let her know she is being contacted.

"Huntress here," she says.

Commander Chernov's face appears in her mirror," We have been surrounded by fifteen ships, all demanding our surrender or they will open fire. We can see the ship you are on glowing. Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine," Hermione says," We are giving the gift of Trinium to the Vulcans. It is just taking a little time to convert the molecular structure of a ship this size. We will be done in a minute. Even if they all fired on you at the same time the Phoenix is safe, so don't worry. Huntress out."

Captain Sorens eyes widen when he hears what Harry is doing, but since he can't move he stands there patiently waiting. After a few minutes the glow fades and Harry steps away from the wall.

"I've just converted the molecular structure every metal part of your ship to Trinium," Harry says," It is the material that our starships are made from. The formula is in your data base now so you can start using it to build the rest of your ships with."

Harry takes his light saber out again and swipes at the table. The blade leaves a gash but doesn't cut though in one go. He hits it three more times before the blade cuts through the table. Hermione again repairs it with a wave of her hand.

"You saw what the blade will do," Harry says," You have nothing to fear from the humans on Earth. Hermione and I are the only ones on this side of the universe that have these swords. We are also considered Jedi Consular. Meaning we are from the diplomatic wing of the Jedi order in their galaxy. The one we told you we helped rebuild after a war. Now watch this."

Harry holds his blade out and runs his hand along the glowing energy field. It pops and sizzles as he does so. Hermione does the same to show she is like Harry. They show their hand to the Vulcans and then release them from stasis. The Vulcans stand there and stare at the young couple while they contemplate what to do.

"You will find your ship is now the strongest ship in your fleet Captain Soren."Harry says," Our light sabers can even deflect any personal energy weapons you might have. They are a very strong and potent weapon to wield. They also require you get up close and personal to use them against an opponent. That necessity is to be avoided at all costs, because it means that diplomacy has failed to the point of violence and Hermione and I will not take a life if we can help it. We use them for defense only. Oh, and demonstrations."

"I'm glad to hear you say that young human," says a Vulcan standing in the door looking around at the expanded room.

She's dressed in formal robes that look amazingly similar the robes Harry and Hermione are wearing, minus the runes. They are rust red in color with a red tunic and trousers tucked into black boots. Her hair is white and there are wrinkles around her gray eyes showing great age. She has a staff in her right hand and a sword at her hip. The Vulcan officers all turn to her and bow their heads in respect.

"Who might you be," Harry asks politely?

"I am Elder T'Por of the Vulcan high council," she answers.

"Are you a true Elder," Harry challenges?

T'Por waves her staff over the table and it is filled with various items from models of the ship they are on to plates and utensils used for a meal.

Harry and Hermione extend their right arms and their wands eject into their hands where they expand into their staffs. They wave their staffs over the table and conjure similar Earthly items from a model of the Phoenix to a model of Camelot.

The Potter's turn to the Vulcan Elder and bow to her and say in unison," Greetings to the Elder of Vulcan from the Elders of the Universe. May we all serve the Creator to best of our abilities!"

She bows back and says," We do our best, as always."

Then she says, to the astonishment of the Vulcan officers," I didn't think I would ever get to meet you Elders. All Elders know about you of course but it is an honor to serve with you."

"We only live to serve," Harry and Hermione chant together.

"Now that the formalities are over," T'Pol says," How can Vulcan help the people of Earth without causing a first contact issue with a pre-warp civilization?"

Harry and Hermione look at each other and nod. They morph into their Pantheras personas to the astonishment of everyone in the room. Even the Vulcan Elder couldn't do that.

"We are the Pantheras," they chant together," Hunters for truth and justice."

They morph back into their true forms and with a wave of their hands conjure enough chairs for everyone and they all sit down around the table to talk.

Harry and I go by Hunter and Huntress to the public of Earth," Hermione starts out," They think of us as aliens from another world. We were born on Earth from Earth parents but we were genetically engineered on another planet and have Nano-Probes in our blood. We are invulnerable to harm and the people of the Earth accept that. Because of us, they are aware they are not alone in the galaxy."

"At least most of them do," Harry continues," We've only been active for about two years so far and word is slowly spreading about us. What we thought you might be able to do is to help us build a larger space station that could act as a trading point between our peoples. The governments will see your ship in orbit along with mine. Our ship is two hundred meters across and the ISS station is slightly smaller overall. With a ship this size dwarfing the space station and the Phoenix the peoples of Earth will finally get the idea that we are not alone in the galaxy. Seeing is believing for the doubters. You don't really need to do anything drastic right away. Hermione and I can be intermediaries between our peoples at first until the world decides what to do. We are hoping that just with you there, the fanatics will calm down to at least keeping their violence within their own countries."

"You are invited to return to your facility on the moon if you like and we can use that as a place for meetings that would be safe from these fanatics trying to interfere out of some innate fear of the unknown," Hermione adds," Most of our population watches what we call Television. It is where we get our news from and most of our entertainment. Harry and I are discovering that Earth is home to a lot of different people from other planets. One of our most popular movies was about the galaxy these light sabers came from. The movies were so accurate with names and events that we are convinced that the producer of the movie is a descendant of someone from that galaxy. The events actually happened a thousand years ago so it would be a legend in their folklore. We also have a series of movies and TV shows that have Vulcans in them and they look exactly like you. Granted, there was a Roman God of fire from mythology that was named Vulcan, but the resemblance is too uncanny to be an accident."

"We have landed on your planet in the past," T'Por says," We tried to stay hidden, but in your era of the nineteen fifties one of our scout ships crash landed there and one of the crew chose to stay behind to study you up close. He might have met this person when he was a young man and gave him the inspiration for the TV show you mentioned."

"I bet he was on the production crew," Harry comments," Even though it is considered science fiction to the population, the show has a character named Spock that looks remarkably like a younger you Captain Soren, even though he was just an actor in makeup. The other uncanny similarity is the fact that the show's star ships use dilithium crystals and anti-matter to create a warp field to propel the ship through sub-space. If the world sees your likeness on television and your ships in orbit they will catch on pretty quickly that we as a people have been influenced by aliens from other planets. A lot of good things come from ideas generated in these forms of entertainment."

Hermione continues," One of Harry's and Mine's favorite sayings is that if someone can come up with an idea, someone else will find a way to make it work. That is the wonder of Human ingenuity and the reason we are advancing so quickly on our planet. We gave one special witch some Trinium wire to use as a superconductor and she turned it into a field generator to create a null gravity field. She was working on it to create a hover chair for her little girl who was paralyzed from a car accident, so she could negotiate stairs and uneven terrain easily. We healed Crystal's injuries, but her mother went right ahead with her work anyway. Now we have null gravity chairs for the crippled, gurneys for hospitals and floating stretchers to carry patients injured in earth quakes and other natural disasters. With you to help, we could find a way to provide for the ever growing population of our world and with us there pushing for more star ships like ours to be built, we will be able to relieve the pressure caused by overpopulation by allowing colonization of other planets. We've already started one of sorts in the Tau Ceti system. We are sending our worst trouble makers there with resources to start a colony. It is our way of getting their influence off the planet and to send a message to other would be crime lords that we won't tolerate them corrupting our society just for monetary gain. Sending there gives them something else to put their education towards, survival."

Everyone in the room is watching them take turns talking by their eyes bouncing back and forth between the two. Elder T'Por is impressed with their reasoning, so is Captain Soren.

"I volunteer my ship Elder," Captain Soren says to T'Por with a bow of his head," I spent twenty Earth years observing them and it would be logical for me to be the one to go. Besides, I am fascinated by the Pendragon's logic as well. It all fits well with my observations of Earth and I happen to agree with them."

"We will make sure everything runs smoothly for you Captain," Harry says," Would you like a tour of our ship? You could meet our magical guests and also the crew of the space station we want to expand. They are the crew that we have been training to run a ship like ours."

"We have put the specs for the Hyper-drive and Trinium in your data base," Hermione says turning to the science officer," The shuttle is already equipped with one and she navigates the same way as the Phoenix. Hyper-space is different than warp drive. In hyper-space you can't see the stars. It's like going through a tunnel with sides all around you so you have to enter your calculations for the trip correctly or you could come out of hyper-space in the middle of a star or planet. The Milky Way galaxy has been mapped by us already with general coordinates for all of the major stars in the galaxy; including stars on the other side of the galaxy, courtesy of the Intergalactic Community of Planets data base. These coordinates should take you to just outside of each stars gravitational influence. You can then use your warp drive to explore those stars to see if they have habitable planets. Once you have mapped an individual system, you can update your data base with coordinates closer to the star in question so you don't have to fly so far away from the star to use your hyper drive."

T'Por turns to Captain Soren and says," Transmit all of the data they are talking about to the Vulcan central computer and you may follow them home and re-establish your base there. The D'Kyr is yours to command as long as you need her. Keep the shuttle as well. You can gift it back to the Elders if you so desire. We will study the data you are sending and start construction on more ships using this Trinium material."

The Captain bows his head at T'Por," It shall be done as you command Elder. Live long and prosper."

"Peace and long life to you Captain Soren," T'Por says then turns to Harry and Hermione," Till we meet again Elders."

They bow to her as she leaves the meeting room to return to her ship and the planet below.

"I would very much like to tour your ship before we go to your system," Captain Soren says," May my science officer join us?"

"Of course," Harry says," Each one of you take hold of an arm and we will take you there now."

The two officers look at them with raised eye brows but comply with the strange order anyway. As soon as they grab hold the Potters phase themselves and the two officers to main bridge of the Phoenix.

"Oh my god, Star Trek is real," Commander Rhodes says when they phase in.

"It sure seems that way, although the story line for the TV show takes place two hundred fifty years in our future, the Vulcans have been in space for a very long time," Harry says," Everyone, I would like you to meet Captain Soren of the good ship D'Kyr. He is the same Soren in the log we translated for you back on the moon. He will be following us back to Earth to re-establish the base and run it for us to set up diplomatic relations with the Vulcans. The person next to him is D'Kyr's science officer, Commander?"

"T'Rena, Captain Pendragon," she says formally.

"Glad to make your acquaintance ma'am," Harry says, then points to one of his officers," This is our Science and First Officer, Commander Gregory Chernov. He is also in charge of the space station. The young lady sitting to the right is our Comm officer, Ensign Akira Sato. In front of her is our Navigator Lieutenant Chenka Vaslovich. To my left, is our Ops Officer, Lieutenant Commander James Sheffield and last but not least by any means is our Engineering officer, Commander Michael Rhodes. They have been training for the last year on this ship when their other duties allow. I'm sure our engineer can't wait to get his hands on his own ship, which we hope will be very soon."

"Behind us," Hermione takes over the introductions," are our magical guests. To the right is Professor Karkaroff, he is the headmaster for the Durmstrang institute, a magical school in Bulgaria, along with his student Victor Krum. Standing next to him is Madame Maxime from the Beaubaton's Academy of Magic in France with her student Miss Fleur Delacour, whose father is a French diplomat. He might actually be a good contact for our purposes. Next to Madame Maxime is our Astronomy Professor Aurora Sinistra and one our students Cedric Diggory. Guys, we are going to be here for a couple of hours while the Vulcans get a crew for the base assembled, so if you want to have a meal in your staterooms go right ahead. We will let you know when we are going to leave so you won't miss anything."

They all nod and head to the lift to descend to crew quarters to relax for a while. Once the civilians are gone, Harry leads the two Vulcans over to the command chairs.

"These are mine and Hermione's command chairs, I'm sure you noticed them and the unusual indents on the arms. We don't really need a crew to operate this ship if one is not available. These slots are how we control the ship while we are on board if we are alone. We can control the ship with our minds. The Phoenix was designed specifically for Hermione and me, with that in mind. Our Nano-Probes is what allows us to do this. They communicate our thoughts to the Phoenix and she does what we ask of her."

"I swear this ship is sentient," Commander Rhodes puts in," We were on board training one day when all of the systems came on line and the ship powered up for departure. It actually waited for us to return to the station before it left. The second the last of us crossed the threshold of the airlock, the door closed and the umbilical retracted, with the ship leaving right after. It was spooky."

"The Phoenix is sentient, in that she has a Biotic brain in the central computer that can pick up our thoughts," Hermione says," She is one of a kind, our Phoenix is and is the only ship like her in all of the Universe. She was a gift from the Creator of all Things and we love her dearly."

She leads them over to the ship's plaque to show them the name and the note, written in the Creator's own handwriting, lovingly framed next to the ship's plaque. They all look on in awe at the note from the Creator. After a short pause, The Potter's give a general tour of the Phoenix, showing the staterooms and crew quarters, along with the kitchen and dining area, where some of the guests were enjoying a meal. They show the Vulcans the rooms with the bunk beds made for troops if they were ever needed. They then went down to the cargo bay where they examined the sensor packages that still need to be delivered.

"What are those obelisks against the far wall," Science officer T'Rena asks?

"Those are planetary shield generators," Hermione explains," They work off the magic of the planet they are implanted on. They are indestructible and no energy weapon is stronger than a planet's magic. Emperor Palpatine found out the hard way when he built a one hundred sixty kilometer diameter space ship with a super powered laser. The shield prevented him from destroying his first planetary target and we took care of him and his toy while we were there. We are here to protect the universe from tyrants like him and any other threat to life in general. Let's return to the bridge and Harry and I will return you to your ship. We don't have a personnel transporter on the Phoenix because we haven't needed one. We just have a mining one right now for getting the raw materials we need to build more ships like this one."

They all head back to the bridge where Commander Chirnov assumes his station.

Ensign Sato looks at Captain Soren and says," Sir, you have a call coming in."

"Can you put it on your screen?" he asks?

"Aye sir," she says and complies.

"Soren here," He answers.

"Captain," The crew is ready to get under way and the station crew is assembled. Ambassador T'Lin will be joining the station team for first contact."

"Very well," he says," We will be there right away; Soren out."

He nods at her and she cuts the connection. The Potters each take one of the Vulcans and phase them to their ship. They return shortly and take their seats while inserting their fingers in the slots on the arms. The magical visitors return to the bridge and their seats.

"We will do this one Chenka," Harry says," We haven't taught you how to create a portal larger than the Phoenix yet."

"Aye sir," she answers," I will watch the numbers on my screen and learn."

"Good answer Lieutenant," Harry says," Comm, open a channel to the D'Kyr."

"Channel open sir," She answers.

"Captain Soren," Hermione says," If you will watch the area of space six hundred meters in front of your ship we will form up on your starboard bow and open a portal to Earth."

"I'm at your command Captain," he responds.

Harry moves the Phoenix over to the position stated and closes his eyes in concentration. Numbers start rapidly running across Chenka's screen as they form the formula for a portal large enough to admit both ships. It starts off as a white star in space at the point Harry indicated and expands to Seven hundred meters in diameter. When the portal is completed, Earth can be seen through the portal, like looking through a window.

"Send a message through the portal to let them know we are coming and that we are bringing a permanent visitor with us," Hermione commands," Then open a channel to the D'Kyr."

"Aye Ma'am," the comm. officers says and sends the message.

"Follow us through Captain Soren," Harry says once the connection is established," Nice and slow, as if you were approaching a docking station."

"As you say, Captain," Soren responds," It will be done."

After the channel is closed Hermione comments," This should wake up the naysayers."

In Earth orbit, the cameras on the space station point to the coordinates given them by the transmission and they start transmitting the image of an area of space just beyond the station's orbit. The cameras pick up an anomaly as the Phoenix comes through this end of the portal. It starts out as a light and then the edge of the ship that everyone is familiar with starts to materialize like it is coming through a dark window where you can't see anything past where the glass would be. After the Phoenix is through, it moves away from the area it just emerged from. A few seconds later the red nose of the D'kyr starts to materialize as she comes through the portal. The cameras pick up and transmit the image of the ship as it emerges. It just keeps coming and coming and coming as its six hundred meter length transverses the portal threshold. When it is through, the portal collapses with a slight flash of light and the D'Kyr is there for all to see. She fires up her engines and assumes a standard orbit adjacent to the space station, which is very small compared to the large ship.

"Comm, open a channel to the T'Kyr," Hermione orders.

"Channel open," she responds.

"Captain Soren," She says," You are free to navigate the system and re-establish your base on the moon. We will join you there when you are ready. We need to continue our survey of the system and deliver these sensor packages."

"Very well Captain Pendragon," he says," May your survey be successful."

The D'Kyr moves off towards the moon and is soon out of sight of the naked eye.


	12. Chapter 12

**An: **Sorry for the long delay. I am an art student and having to do fifty drawings a week for class has been taking up all of my time. This class is almost over and I will continue on with the story. Hopefully the next class with allow me more spare time for writing. Here we go with the next chapter. Please enjoy.

**Chapter 52: Tour continued and the Yule Ball**

"Open a channel to Earth Command," Harry orders.

"Channel open Captain," the comm officer replies.

"Earth Command, this is Elder Hunter," Harry says.

"Go ahead Hunter," the reply comes from the speakers.

"Here is our report so far," Harry says," The ship you saw on your monitors is the D'kyr, a Vulcan ship. That's right I said Vulcan, as in the television show. Turns out they have been monitoring us for some years and left our system back during the moon launch days in the sixties. They have a base on the far side of the moon and have agreed to help us bring the planet into unity by helping our economy and helping us feed the masses. They will also help build a larger, more permanent space station. They have brought an ambassador with them that is trained for negotiating first contact with a pre-warp civilization, so please contact the United Nations council to send representatives. This is a global concern and will be the first step in uniting the world under one government. The details will be worked out to the benefit of all. Each country will become similar to the states in the United States. They will each have their own government and will have a vote in the world government. They will be allowed to keep their sovereignty but will be part of the whole. This is how it is done on other worlds and it works just fine. When the representatives are ready, the Phoenix will transport them to the base on the moon for negotiations with the Vulcans on how they can help us."

"We have found out so far that Mercury is rich in the elements needed to construct more ships like the Phoenix," Hermione takes over," Venus is off limits to probes or any landings there. There is a civilization on that planet that is more advanced than ours except they are strictly land based. The clouds preclude them from seeing into outer space and they do not know it exists. Their atmosphere is the opposite of ours in that it is ninety nine percent carbon dioxide; with traces of nitrogen and oxygen. The pressure on the surface is like going down five thousand feet deep in the ocean. We decided that they are to be left alone. If they get brave enough to venture into space, we will be there to greet them. Earth's moon has the Vulcan base as we stated and we will see if there are any more surprises in store for us as we explore. For now, we are going to continue planting the sensor packages about the rest of the solar system. Next stop is Mars."

"All has been recorded and acknowledged," Earth Command replies, "We will forward your request to the appropriate authorities."

"No need to hurry," Harry says," They need to re-establish the base and get set up, which will take some time. Schedule the first meeting for the first week of March."

"Will do. Looking forward to your next report, Earth Command out."

"Okay Chenka," Harry says turning to her," You've done it before. Let's go to Mars."

"Aye sir," she says with a smile as she puts in the coordinates.

The portal appears in front of the ship and she guides the Phoenix through. On the other end, the Phoenix materializes above the planet and the portal collapses.

"Okay Chenka," Hermione says after checking the readings on her screen," Lets plant a sensor pack at each pole to monitor the ice packs and then we will explore the Valles Marineris to plant another sensor near the bottom."

She turns to the guests and says," It's okay to take pictures for your schools if you have cameras. If not, we can provide you with some from the ship's cameras. It is okay to move about the cabin as long as you stay out of the way of the working crew."

The group all stands up and moves to the observation windows to take pictures and walk around. They ooh and ahh as Chenka flies the ship down to the first destination, the northern ice cap. Once the sensor is implanted the procedure is repeated for the southern cap and then they fly to the valley to scan the area for signs of previous life since all of the scientists on Earth think it is an ancient river valley. As they descend deeper into the valley the colors become more pronounced than what can be seen from space and it starts to look like the Grand Canyon back home on Earth at the lower levels. The atmosphere density rises as they get deeper and signs of life start to show in the form of reddish lichen type plants on the face of the rocks. At the five kilometer depth, small bush like plants start to crop up here and there and the atmosphere turns slightly hazy with moisture. At the six and a half kilometer depth the moisture is so thick the windows are becoming covered in condensation.

"Who would have thought we would need windshield wipers on a space ship," Harry comments as they fly along the valley.

He touches a pad on his console and a shield snaps into place about a quarter inch from the skin of the ship to repel the water for visibility.

"Look over there," Fleur comments pointing out her window.

Everyone looks and on the side of the canyon walls near the bottom are a series of caves with what looks like stairs or trails leading up to them. Chenka moves the Phoenix closer and it becomes apparent that wind and erosion have taken their toll as everything is smooth and eroded.

"No life signs," James reports," If there was living beings here they are long gone. Looks like only the rudimentary plant life is all that is left."

"Okay," Harry orders," Take lots of sensor readings and photographs. This place will be worth exploring someday. Plant a sensor package here to monitor the area in case we have missed anything."

"Aye sir," the response comes from the science officer as he plants the package.

They continue on down the valley spotting more areas with caves, proving that life once existed here, possibly sentient in nature. After exploring and mapping the whole valley Chenka takes the Phoenix back to orbit where Comm officer Sato sends a report of their findings back to Earth and the Vulcan base.

"Okay Chenka," Harry orders," Jupiter is next. You might want to start with Ganymede as the largest moon, and then we can visit the others.

The Phoenix goes on to visit all of the major moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, with the final stop at Charon, Pluto's moon.

With all of the sensor packages planted in their designated places, the Phoenix returns to Earth's moon to check in with the Vulcans. The Phoenix exits the portal above the Vulcan base on the far side of the moon and assumes stationary orbit.

"Incoming call from Captain Soren," Akira says.

"Put it on the monitor," Hermione commands.

"How can we help you Captain," she asks?

"We have been receiving the reports from the sensor packages and are pleased to note there are several sources for the materials we will need to build the new space station," He reports," We can have ships here in a short while to mine and replicate what we need. The new Hyperspace drive is being installed on all of our ships now and we have upgraded the D'kyr as well. Also, I have been instructed to gift you the shuttle you found on the base. The Little Phoenix, I believe you called her. "

"Thank you Captain," Harry says," Hermione and I think your ship designs are beautiful and we will gladly take her as our personal shuttle. It will make it easier to ferry the diplomats back and forth since we can enter the base in it."

"That was our thinking as well," Soren says," She is ready to be picked up at your convenience."

"Thank you Captain," Harry says," I believe I will pick her up now if you don't mind. We will take it back to Earth with us and use it to ferry our passengers back to Scotland."

"That is acceptable," Soren says," It is still in the D'Kyr's shuttle bay."

"Thank you captain," Harry says," I'm on my way. Phoenix out."

Harry stands up and phases to the Vulcan ship where he boards the shuttle and fires it up to bring it over to the Phoenix.

"Little Phoenix to the D'kyr," Harry comms," Ready to depart."

The shuttle bay doors open after the air is evacuated from the bay.

"Permission to depart granted," The shuttle bay operator says," She is a good ship, may you have many good journeys in her."

"Thank you for taking good care of her. Also, I am implanting instructions on how to build a shield across your bay doors so you won't have to evacuate the air first. It will save you a lot of time in emergencies." Harry responds as he flies her out the doors into open space.

"Acknowledged," the first officer responds as he listens in.

As Harry approaches the Phoenix, the crew on board can feel a vibration though the ship and turn to Hermione for an explanation.

"You feel that," Engineer Rhodes asks?

"It's just the Phoenix reconfiguring itself to accommodate the forty meter shuttle," Hermione says," This is a magical ship and she is not limited to her present configuration. She can become anything we want her to be. As we said earlier, she was designed for Harry and me by the Creator and is the only one like her in the universe. We are very proud of her."

As the shuttle approaches, a pair of doors on the upper rear of the saucer appears and opens for Harry to berth the shuttle in the new shuttle bay. A blue shield shimmers across the opening to keep the air inside and Harry brings her in for a perfect landing with the doors closing above him. He exits the shuttle and makes his way back to the bridge via the turbo lift. The saucer section has gained another level, making it two stories high with more staterooms and cargo area for ore mining and replication of parts.

Harry takes his seat next to Hermione and says," Let's go home. We have a Ball to get ready for."

ooOOoo

The crew of the Phoenix returns to the space station and reattaches the umbilical for the station crew so they can resume their duties on the station. Harry and Hermione then fly the samples they had taken from the various planets and moons to Earth Command in Kazakhstan for distribution to the various labs around the world for study. They re-park the ship next to the station and the Potters and all of the magical guests board the shuttle for the flight back to Scotland.

"Harry," Hermione says," Let's use that cave we found next to the Chamber of Secrets. It's big enough to park the Little Phoenix in and we can show our guests the chamber."

"Sounds good to me," Harry replies," Here we go."

Harry guides the ship down to the Forbidden Forrest to the cave that Aragog and his wife used to live in. Inside the cave a door opens up at Harry's command to show a long tunnel going off in the distance. Harry guides the Little Phoenix into the passage way which opens up into a much larger cave and lands the ship near the entrance to the chamber after turning it to face back the way they came. He hits a pad on the control panel and a door opens with a ramp going down to the ground for exiting the shuttle.

"If everyone will follow us we will show you the Legendary Chamber of Secrets that my grandfather built here millennia ago," Hermione says.

"I bet Grandfather never imagined this use for his chamber," Harry comments as they start walking through the back entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

"No, I don't imagine he did," Hermione says," maybe we should show him so he will understand how much more he is contributing to our world, even after all of these years."

"Good idea Hermione," Harry says," Let's give him something else to be proud of you for."

"You are included in this as well you know," Hermione states," I couldn't do any of this without you by my side."

"Together forever," He whispers to her.

"Together forever," She agrees as she lays her head on his shoulder as they walk.

"Isn't young love wonderful," Madame Maxime comments with a smile?

Fleur looks at her headmistress with a smile as she knows that she has been watching Hagrid ever since they arrived at Hogwarts.

Everyone is thinking of the upcoming ball and their dates as they follows the Potters into the chamber where Hermione shows them around. Harry shows them where the basilisk used to live and Salazar's secret office. Afterwards, they make their way to the exit where Hermione says "_**ssstairsss**_" in parseltongue to allow them to ascend to the Myrtle's bathroom. Hermione and Harry turns to the group after exiting the bathroom.

"We hope you enjoyed your tour of the solar system and the Chamber of Secrets," Hermione says," We will see you again at the ball."

"We certainly did," Professor Sinistra says for the group with everyone nodding in agreement," I have a lot of new material to teach the children now. I can't thank you enough."

Everyone gives the King and Queen a bow and makes their way quietly back to their quarters for the night.

ooOOoo

The next morning is the day before the ball and the Potters wake up at their usual time for a workout with their swords and meditation with the rest of Phoenix house. Professor Dumbledore declares a Hogsmeade day so everyone that needs to can get any last minute needs for the ball, or to just enjoy themselves with the holiday spirit. The students cheer and rush to their dorms to get cloaks for the outing.

Harry and Hermione walk slowly hand in hand through Hogsmeade enjoying the cold brisk air as it doesn't affect them as much as the other students who have to bundle up in woolen scarves and heavy coats. They stop in at Scrivenshaft's Quill Shoppe to replenish their parchment, ink and quills with Harry buying Hermione a Golden Eagle feather quill for writing official letters and a set of standard quills for everyday work.

"You know, Harry," Hermione says to him?

"What's that Hermione," he answers back content at his place by her side.

"It's ironic when you think about it." She says," We fly spaceships from one galaxy to another and use computers all the time to do so and here we are using quills and ink pots to write out assignments on parchment, of all things."

"I agree with you Hermione," Harry says," It just shows how backward magical society is compared to the non-magicals."

"I noticed the trip on the Phoenix didn't seem to faze our passengers with all of the technology in use, so maybe we can speed things up a bit with integrating magic with the mundane world," Hermione comments.

"I think we are well on our way already with Dr. Donaldson's inventions filtering into the regular world as we speak," Harry says.

"Yea," she says thinking," I think the world is ready for what we have to do. The pictures of the Vulcan ship should be all over the news in no time and the general populous will realize we are not the only species in the galaxy. Hopefully they will finally understand that their petty squabbles are not that important in the grand scheme of things. Maybe with the Vulcan's help we can get rid of the oppressive governments around the world and get equal rights for all the peoples of the Earth."

"We'll see," Harry says," Unfortunately there will always be someone in power that lets that power go to their head and uses it for his or her own personal gain while letting their people suffer for it."

"That's where we come in Harry," Hermione says," When we find out about it we can go and see if we can find a peaceful solution or we can always exile the troublemakers to our colony planet."

"You know," Harry says," We should probably take the Phoenix out and check on them this summer. I'd like to see what they are doing for themselves and help if we can."

"Good idea," Hermione says," Let's go to Honeydukes next. We need some more rewards for our students, and I just love their chocolate truffle."

Harry laughs with her and they take their purchases to the counter to pay for them. After the stop at the candy store the couple walks to the Three Broomsticks for lunch where they meet up with more members of Phoenix house as they rotate in and out on patrol of the town.

"We'll have the special of the day and two butterbeers please, Rosemerta," Harry calls out as he seats Hermione at a table near the door.

"Coming right up Elders," she calls back, getting the attention of some of the town folk who look over at them.

After a few minutes of waiting she brings their meals and drinks to them and places them in front of them on the table.

"Thanks Rosemerta," Hermione says," These smell delicious."

Rosemerta blushes a bit at the praise from the Elders and says," It's just standard fare for when the students come to town."

"Well, it is very good," Harry says," You've outdone yourself and I think your other patrons appreciate it as well."

Others around the room nod in agreement when they overhear his comment.

"Thank you Elder," she says," just call out if you want more."

With that said, she returns to the bar to tend to the next customer. Harry and Hermione enjoy their lunch and return to patrolling the town with a visit to the book store. They notice, while patrolling, that Gladrags is doing a brisk business as girls are entering and leaving the shop regularly with packages of items needed for the ball this evening. About three in the afternoon there is a general migration back to the castle as the girls all have to get ready while the boys all complain it is too early. When the students arrive back at the castle they notice the Great Hall's main doors are closed with a sign on it that says it will reopen at seven for the general student population to enter and close again at seven thirty to allow the champions to make an entrance.

Harry and Hermione retreat to their quarters to relax and get ready for their entrance to the Great Hall. Winky takes good care of Hermione as her personal elf and she exits the dressing room after three hours of pampering looking like the Queen she is. She is wearing a periwinkle (blue/purple) colored gown with matching shoes with a silver tiara in her hair along with a matching purse with the Pendragon crest on it. She drops her energy sword in the purse as she never goes anywhere without it. Harry is wearing a royal purple tunic with black pants and shoes with a sash across his chest with the crest on it, along with a black belt around his waist that has Excalibur hanging on the right side with his energy sword on the left. He has a golden crown on his head.

"You look very lovely this evening my dear," Harry says holding out his elbow for her to hold," Winky has outdone herself."

"She certainly knows how to bring out the best in me," Hermione says linking her arm in Harry's," Shall we go and set the hook?"

"Let's" Harry says.

The couple exits their quarters and makes their way down to the Great Hall where the other champions are waiting. When they see them coming they all bow to the couple.

"No need for that among friends," Harry says with his green eyes twinkling like Dumbledore's.

As they walk up, the doors open magically and trumpets sound in the Great Hall as the first couple enters.

"Announcing!" the Herald calls out," The Champion from _Durmstrang Institute of Magic_, Victor Krum. Escorting the Champion from _Beauxbatons Academy_ of _Magic, __Fleur Delacour."_

The couple walks into the room to the applause and cheers of their respective schools and stands behind their seats at the Champions Table. The Trumpets ring out once more.

"Announcing!" the Herald calls out once again," The champion of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Cedric Diggory. Escorting his lovely date for the evening, Miss Cho Chang."

Everyone from Hogwarts stands and cheers for the couple as they walk in and stand behind their chairs at the Champion's Table. The trumpets ring out once more with a bit more fanfare. Moody sits up and takes notice of the longer fanfare wondering why they would do that for Potter. He had noticed earlier there were two chairs larger than the rest at the Champions Table but thought they were for McGonagall and Dumbledore as headmaster and mistress for Hogwarts.

"It is my extreme privilege to announce the forth Champion and our hosts for the tournament," the Herald calls out proudly," His Royal Highness, King Harold James Pendragon. Escorting his wife and Queen, Hermione Jane Pendragon. May they reign supreme!"

"Long live the King and Queen," Neville calls out.

"Long live the King and Queen," the rest of Phoenix house echoes.

Everyone in the room stands and bows to them as they walk in towards the Champions Table where Harry holds the Chair for Hermione and everyone seats themselves.

"Please everyone, enjoy yourselves." Harry calls out before sitting," We are here to have a good time after all."

Cheers ring out as everyone takes their seats and orders from the menus by tapping their plates with their wands and speaking their selection. The elves, below in the kitchens, do a wonderful job of keeping up with the orders and providing all of the needs for the feast.

Moody sits at his place and stares at the pair wearing crowns and wonders whether he should tell his master about this new development.

"_This could be serious."_ Moody thinks to his-self_," Magical contracts require the full name of the participants to be legally binding. Everyone knows that as it is common knowledge. If Mr. Potter (Pendragon?) knows this; why is he competing in the tournament anyway? Does he suspect something? My master needs to know so he can decide if he wants to use the King or go for a different sacrifice. I better not wait to let him know. If he finds out from any other source, he is sure to punish me severely."_

Harry and Hermione are discreetly watching Moody for his reaction to their true status and names.

"_He sure is getting fidgety,"_ Harry sends to Hermione.

"_Yea,"_ she sends back_," Think he will make an excuse to leave early?"_

"_I wouldn't be surprised,"_ Harry sends_," I believe he has taken the bait and the news will make Tom more determined to kill me and try to claim Excalibur. His massive ego will allow for no less."_

"_You're right," _Hermione sends back_," Our display tonight should guarantee that he doesn't stray from the path he set for us and use someone else instead."_

"_Let's not worry about it right now," _Harry sends_," Ready to dance?"_

Everyone had finished eating and is just conversing with their partners when Harry signals Dumbledore, who stands up and waves his wand. A loud bang gets the crowd's attention.

"If everyone would stand I will clear the floor for the dance," he announces.

Everyone cooperates and with a wave of his wand the tables disappear, except for a table with refreshments for thirsty dancers. The chairs move along the walls around the hall and the orchestra sets up. Harry rises from his chair along with the other Champions. He bows to Hermione.

"Would my lady care to dance with this humble gentleman?" he asks.

"Why yes I would kind sir," she answers and holds her hand up for him to take.

Harry leads her out to the middle of the floor where he takes position for the opening dance. The music starts up and the King and Queen twirl elegantly around the floor in step with the music. The crowd is mesmerized by how well they fit together as they step around the dance floor. When the piece is over, Harry bows to his Queen and walks her back to the table to give more room for the rest of the students. They dance to several more tunes as the evening wears on towards ten o'clock and their surprise for the students.

At ten, Harry and Hermione steps up to the podium and raise up. The students notice this and stop conversing to see what they have to say.

"My fellow students and young people," Harry starts out," I'm sure you don't want to listen to and have to dance to this long haired classical music all night, so Hermione and I have a surprise for you."

The doors to the Great Hall open.

Hermione calls out," We give you **The Weird Sisters!"**

The band walks in to the cheering of the students and set up quickly.

"**Are you ready?"** the lead singer asks loudly.

"**Yea!" **the students reply as the band gets started with some rowdy rock and roll.

As the Potters are not into rock music after their long years in another galaxy, they spend the rest of the evening walking around the garden talking and holding hands.

"_I noticed Moody slip away as we were making our announcement," _Harry sends to Hermione so they wouldn't be overheard by other students.

She takes his arm and leans into his shoulder_," Tom should have the news by now, I hope our plan works."_

"_It will,_" Harry sends back," _He wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this. What surprises me the most is that he is even trying; after what we did to him first year."_

"_I think his belief in the Prophesy is what is keeping him obsessed with you,"_ Hermione sends," _He only knows about the first two lines and he won't stop until he is sure you are no longer a threat to him. Ironically, if he had known the whole thing he might not have attacked your parents in the first place in fear of triggering it. He was winning the war after all."_

"_Yea, our job would have been that much harder if he was in control of the government," _Harry sends back.

Harry and Hermione wander back into the castle and head to their rooms for the night.

ooOOoo

Earlier that evening Moody slipped out the front doors of the castle while everyone was listening to the announcement about the change in music. He apparated to Little Hangleton and made his way to the Riddle manor house. He slipped inside and went up the stairs to his master's study where he knocks on the door before entering and kneeling before his master.

"Why are you not at the school," Voldemort demands?

"I have news that couldn't wait master," Crouch Jr. says.

"Out with it then," he says," I will decide if it is important enough to warrant you not being punished for disobeying me."

"Yes my Lord," Crouch says bowing low," I found out tonight that Harry Potter is more than we knew."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Voldemort hisses," This had better be good."

"It is my Lord," Crouch says," Harry potter is married to the Mudblood Hermione Potter."

"I knew that already," he hisses in his snake like voice.

"There's more my Lord. Harry Potter's name is really Harold Pendragon and he is the magical King of England. He carries Excalibur."

"You're sure of this," Voldemort asks?

"I saw the sword with my own eyes master," Crouch answers," there is one other thing I don't understand master and am worried about."

"What is it," he asks?

"In your infinite wisdom I'm sure you understand what magical contracts require to be legal and binding," Crouch asks?

"Yes," Voldemort pauses, thinking about why Crouch was asking such a question, then," Ah, I see the problem."

"Yes my Lord," Crouch says," The Goblet of Fire was destroyed when Potter's name came out of it. At least there was no more magic in it when I was asked to check it. I kept that to myself when I reported my findings. The contract from the goblet never took hold on Potter, so technically he doesn't have to compete in the tournament. What I would like to know is why he is doing it anyway?"

"Maybe he doesn't know," Voldemort speculates," His is only fourteen after all and is being raised by filthy muggles."

"That could be," Crouch says thinking," My father and Bagman told him he had to compete, so he went along with it, though he was not real happy about it. He's either a very good actor or he really doesn't know about that aspect of magical contracts. By the way, he and his mudblood wife are immune to the Imperious curse. I tried it on them in class and it had no effect."

"That is of no consequence but continue the plan and see to it that he is brought here for the ritual," Voldemort says with conviction," getting my hands on Excalibur will give legitimacy to my takeover of the British ministry. Nobody will be able dispute my power if I wield the sword. You have done well my servant. Now go back to the school before someone notices you are missing. If any more news like this comes to your attention, I want to know about it immediately."

"Yes my Lord," Crouch says with a deep bow," I am yours to command."

"I know," Voldemort hisses as Crouch backs out the door.

"Wormtail, it is time for my feeding."

"Yes my Lord."


	13. Chapter 13 Christmas and the second task

**An: **I had some time between classes so I did my best to get another chapter down. Hope you like it.

**Chapter 53: Christmas and the second task**

The day after the ball is Christmas Eve and everyone going home is up early for breakfast; despite lack of sleep from staying up late the night before. There will be a lot of students napping on the ride home. Harry and Hermione sit at the Phoenix table eating while watching the other students. They are very satisfied by the comradery between the students of the four houses. Even the Slytherins are getting along with everyone with a few exceptions from some of the older students that are firmly in Voldemort's court. They are beyond help from the Potters but at least they are staying out of trouble after being told by their parents to keep a low profile. The die-hard will just have to find out the hard way when the time comes.

"_I know, Harry,"_ Hermione sends to him after observing who he was watching_," they will learn when the time comes and we will do our best to make sure they don't come to any harm if any of them have his mark."_

"_They wouldn't have his mark yet Hermione,"_ Harry sends back_," they are too young. I'm thinking about how their parents are leading them down the wrong path. They are all so young to be corrupted like that."_

"_That's where we come in Harry,"_ she sends_," When Tom makes his move, we will be there to contain him and keep the damage to a minimum. Then we can teach them how to become the upstanding citizens they are meant to be. The pureblood families are the elite of our society; they just need a kick in the right direction to see the error of their ways."_

"_I know, beautiful,"_ he sends back_," And I will have you by my side to help them along."_

"_Wouldn't be anywhere else,"_ She sends as she gives him a quick peck on the lips; then says out loud," You ready to go see mum and dad?"

"Yes I am," Harry says standing up after a final dab with his napkin.

He extends his hand to her, which she takes and stands with him. The couple walks back to their suite to collect their travel bags and makes their way to the carriages for the ride to Hogsmeade station where they board the train for the ride to London. Harry enters their usual compartment and after an expansion charm to accommodate their study group, settles in for the trip. During the ride most of the group meditates, allowing the force to flow through them to replenish their bodies as most of them didn't get much sleep from staying up too late after the ball. Before they knew it the announcement came that they were approaching platform nine and three quarters and home.

Everyone going into the mundane world changed out of their school robes and into regular clothes so they wouldn't stand out. As soon as the train stopped, Harry and Hermione were off and walking through the barrier, ready to relax with their family and enjoy what was left of the holiday. As soon as they went through the barrier Hermione spotted her parents and with a squeal of delight ran and threw her arms around her father while Mrs. Granger had Harry wrapped in hers. They then swapped for a hug each from the other parent before proceeding to the Rolls so Jeeves could drive them home.

"You guys have been busy," Mr. Granger says to Harry as they are driven home.

"You saw the news then," Harry asks?

"If you mean the giant red spaceship that came out of nowhere that went to the moon, then yes," Mr. Granger answers.

"Good," Hermione says," If you saw it, that means everyone else did too. We were hoping for that to happen so maybe the general populous of Earth will understand we have other worldly neighbors and stop fighting each other over what are mostly petty unimportant reasons. We will soon have the resources and the technology to help feed the hungry and cure diseases all around the world. We will be having a conference on the moon in March to get it all started. You and mum are invited, if you want to go."

"Most definitely," Mrs. Granger says," I like riding in the Phoenix and I would love to meet these aliens."

"Believe it or not mum," Hermione says," the aliens are Vulcans."

"What do you mean Vulcans; as in Star Trek," Mr. Granger asks incredulously?

"The same," Harry confirms," I was a bit surprised as well. It is looking more and more like a lot of our science fiction TV shows and movies are based on legends and facts brought here by peoples from other planets."

"Yea," Hermione says," Until Kal-El showed up, I thought we were the only other worldly people living here. And we were engineered due to a Prophesy that was told thousands of years ago. I guess despite Earth being primitive, it is still a place people want to visit."

"You know Hermione," Harry says thinking out loud," With the discovery of the Vulcans home world only sixteen light years from Earth, I wonder if there are any more non-human species living in this galaxy? I mean of the twenty eight known galaxies, this one and the Stars Wars galaxy are the only ones so far that have non-humans in them. All of the others are human inhabited only and even Earth evolved independently from the main human population."

"You're right Harry," Hermione answers," I guess the Creator decided we needed a challenge so our lives wouldn't so dull."

"I suppose that would be one way of looking at it Hermione," Harry laughs," Leave it to the boss to keep our lives interesting."

"I, for one, am thankful for a good challenge," Hermione says," I look forward to the conference."

"Me too Hermione," Harry says.

The rest of the ride is spent telling their parents about school work and the ball which Harry and Hermione promise to share lots of pictures for the Grangers to add to their family albums. Soon they reach their residence and all go inside for the evening meal. They spend the rest of the evening enjoying each others company and after watching midnight mass on television the Potters and Grangers retire to their bedrooms for the night. After all, Father Christmas still has to stop and deliver all of the presents for tomorrow.

The next morning, Harry and Hermione get up at their usual time to go to the basement for their normal workout with their energy swords. The noise filters up to the Granger's bedroom and they get up to watch; always fascinated by what their children can do. After working out for thirty minutes Jeeves comes down the stairs and informs the family that breakfast is ready. Harry and Hermione quickly run up to their room to get cleaned up for the morning meal, glancing at the presents around the tree, as they pass, that weren't there when they went to bed. The Grangers look at each other and smile.

"You know, George," Helen says as she sits at the table," the look on their faces when they saw the presents under the tree warms my heart."

"I agree honey," George says back to his wife," Despite their intellectual ages, they are still teenagers."

"I was worried we were losing them," Helen says," they have so many responsibilities I don't see how they cope with them all and still remain our children,"

"We will always be your children mum," Hermione says as she walks into the kitchen followed by Harry.

Picking up her cup of coffee and sniffing she says," mmmmm, that smells good."

She takes a sip as the rest chuckle at her antics, very much aware of her love for coffee in the morning. Harry and the rest dig in to the sumptuous breakfast prepared by Jeeves as he joins them at the table. The Grangers watch the two teens with knowing looks on their faces as they eat and start to get more and more fidgety as they keep glancing towards the sitting room where the tree and presents are.

"Okay," Helen says, deciding to put them out of their misery," you can go open your presents now."

With a squeal, Hermione races Harry into the sitting room where she beats him by getting her foot in the door first and runs to sit by the tree and the pile of presents.

"Ha," Hermione says," I beat you. I get to hand out presents this year."

"I let you win," Harry says haughtily," I'll get you next year."

"In your dreams Potter," she says as she reaches in for the first present.

"You're always in my dreams, Mrs. Potter," Harry says softly as he sits next to her.

She looks over at him and sets the present down. She then wraps her arms around him and kisses him passionately. As they kiss, the couple is surrounded by a soft white glow as they receive the blessing of the Creator on this special day of the year. A soft cough brings them out of the kiss as the Granger's sit on the couch.

"Sorry daddy," Hermione says," I just love him so much."

"I know sweetheart," George says with a smile," So; you get to pass out the gifts this year?"

"Yea, I won the race this time," Hermione says as she hands the first gift to her father," It's from mum."

"You always win Hermione," Her mum reminds her.

"That's because Harry lets me," Hermione says with a smile toward her husband.

"I like to watch you pass out the presents," Harry says," You look so happy and content."

"That's because I have my family gathered around me," Hermione answers back as she hands him his first present," And, I have you."

"And I will always be here for you, Hermione," Harry says back.

"I'm sorry daddy, I just have to kiss him again," She says.

So she does.

The Grangers look on with love in their eyes at their children.

"I will never get tired of observing the love they have for each other," Helen says as she cuddles into her husband's arms.

"Me neither," George says with a slight whine in his voice," but at the rate they are going it will take forever to pass out the presents."

Harry and Hermione break apart laughing when they hear him and then Hermione proceeds to hand out the rest of the gifts. As the gifts are unwrapped piles of clothes and board games appear as well as a new Nintendo Game system Mr. Granger has wanted to try out. They finally come down to the last two gifts sitting behind the tree. They are two long boxes about three feet long and ten inches wide. One is wrapped in pink and one in blue and there is a letter attached.

"Those came from Dr. Donaldson in Glendale," George says to Hermione.

She takes the letter out and reads it:

"_Dear Lord and Lady Potter,_

_Here are two prototypes of something I wanted to try. Let me know how they turn out and if you want to proceed with general production. My Crystal like hers and is hoping you will approve. Just push the button to activate them._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Dr. Donaldson_"

Hermione sets the letter down and opens the pink box while handing Harry the blue one. Inside the box is long oval shaped board with a nice feminine design on the face of it.

"Looks like a skate board Harry," Hermione says," I've always wanted one of these."

She pulls the board out of the box and notices there are no wheels on the bottom, just two thin-flat rectangular boxes with a semi-round hump going around the outside edge of the board. Curious about no wheels she pushes the button on the end to see what will happen. A blue field snaps into place around the bottom of the board extending down five and a half inches. She sets the board down on the floor and it floats above the floor exactly five and a half inches.

"I know what this is Harry," she squeals," She's really done it. She found a way to make the null gravity field work well enough to make children's toys with it. This is a hover board, just like the one in the movie with Marty McFly, um, Back to the Future number two, I think."

Harry opens his quickly and pulls his board out and turns it on.

He looks up at the Grangers," Can we go try them out please?"

"Yes you can go out," Mrs. Granger says.

She barely gets the word yes out and the two teens are out the front door and on the drive to the house where they set the boards down and tentatively step up onto their boards. At first they both wobble a little as they get their balance. They start with slowly pushing down the drive with one foot and discover the boards can be steered by leaning the board one way or the other with their feet as they glide along.

"This is so cool," Harry yells to Hermione as they glide along at high speed up and down the long drive.

"Yea," Hermione yells back," It rides so smooth too. I can't feel any of the cracks in the drive with no wheels to snag on them."

The two teens continue to ride up and down the drive and then decide to ride over to the local skateboard park where the die-hard skaters will be out practicing, despite the cool weather. They are discreetly followed by Agents Hamilton and Chancy as they make their way to the park. When they get there, several older boys are out riding their new boards on the various terrains provided in the park with a few girls sitting watching their boyfriends skate. The boys notice the new couple as they ride their boards into the park and watch as they take them through their paces. They are impressed by how well they can ride, not realizing who the couple really is, or why they don't need helmets or knee pads. Harry and Hermione ride around the park for a bit and notice everyone watching.

"_I've got an idea Hermione,"_ Harry sends to her_," We need to know how these will work with non-magicals and people who don't have our abilities. These boys look like they know what they are doing. Let's get a couple of the better skaters to try the boards out."_

"_Sounds like a very good idea Harry,"_ Hermione sends,_" This will be the test for us to determine if we want to make them available to the general public._"

Harry and Hermione stop and after flipping their boards up into their hands walk towards the boys that had gathered watching the couple. Harry walks up to the one that is wearing a professional looking skateboarding outfit and reaches out to shake his hand.

"How do you do," Harry starts," I'm Harry Potter of Potter Industries and this is my girl Hermione. We came to the park today to try out a new prototype board we are thinking of releasing to the general public. You looked like you knew what you were doing when you were riding your board. We would like to give you the opportunity to try out this board and see what you think."

The young man shook Harry's hand and looks down at the board he is carrying. His eyes get wide when he gets a look and notices there are no wheel on the board.

"I'm Jeremy Simmons and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me," he says," There really aren't any wheels on your board. I take my skateboarding seriously and come here to practice all the time. I don't believe I have seen you around the park before."

"This is our first trip to the park and no there aren't any wheels," Hermione takes over," The boards were developed by one of our companies in America by a research scientist named Dr. Donaldson. The board uses a null gravity field to suspend it above the ground. There is no resistance when you ride it but it steers the same way a board with wheels does. The thing is, you can move sideways on it as well so you could slalom around a corner or through a maze with it."

Harry hands the board to Jeremy and cautions.

"Just remember there are no wheels to keep you from sliding sideways if you push that direction."

Jeremy takes the board and after Harry shows him how to activate it he places it on the ground where it hovers. He places his foot on the board and gives a tentative shove with his other foot as he slowly glides down the track. As he gets a feel for the board he gets more daring and starts to put it through its paces with maneuvers on the track. After a few minutes of this he glides back to the waiting group and dismounts the board. He gives it a flip with his foot as he saw Harry doing it earlier and hands the board back to him.

"That was amazing," He says," I felt no resistance to the ground at all. I didn't have to worry about a stray rock or object in my path to trip me up."

"That is exactly why we are perusing this technology," Harry says," This will help beginners in that there will be less accidents do to something on the ground that would make the board come to an abrupt stop. Now; who else wants a go?"

All of the boys line up for a try, with the girls gathering around to look at Hermione's version of the board. She takes the girls off to the side to give them a chance to try as well. After an hour or so of watching and instructing Harry and Hermione say goodbye to the group and promise to let them know when the new boards will be available.

"We might want to keep an eye on Jeremy," Hermione says," He did really well on the board and he might be good for advertising the product here in the UK."

"Let's ask dad if he has heard of him," Harry suggests," he follows all kinds of sports."

The couple glides their way home on their new hover boards and soon arrives at the front door where they flip their boards into their hands and walk in the door being held for them by Jeeves.

"Thank you Jeeves," Hermione says with a nod of her head.

"You're welcome my lady," he bows back to her.

"Where did you guys go?" Helen Granger asks as they walk in," You didn't take a jacket with you when you went out."

"It wasn't that cold out mum," Hermione says," we went to the skate park to try out the new boards. There were some boys there with their girlfriends skating and we let them try the boards to see how a normal person would handle it."

"Yea," Harry says," There was this guy Jeremy that did real well on it."

"Jeremy Simmons," George Granger asks?

"Yea, why," Hermione asks?

"Jeremy Simmons is a professional Skateboard competitor," Mr. Granger comments, "I've watched him on TV before. He is really good."

"Maybe we can get him to endorse our product when it is ready for distribution then," Harry says," We'll have to keep an eye on him and see when the time comes."

Everyone agrees with that statement as they get ready for lunch. After lunch is served and eaten, the Nintendo, which George had wired up while the Potters were at the skate park, is turned on and Mario Brothers comes up on the screen, so the rest of the afternoon is taken up by bouncing plumbers and coins being collected as they progress though the levels. Dinner is served at six in the evening and then the board games come out as they all try to get through the Game of Life. All in all it turned out to be a great Christmas Day celebration.

The next morning is the start of Boxing Day which means sales at the mall so the family decides to take a stroll down to the local shopping center where they browse the various shops to see if there are any good buys. They end up with a few articles of clothing and a few more Nintendo games. After lunch the family decides to see the new Tim Allen move, The Santa Clause, which leaves them in stitches and with good feelings afterwards.

"I have always loved movies about Santa," Hermione says as they walk back towards home," And Tim Allen did a wonderful job with this version."

"I agree Hermione," Harry says," Mr. Allen is a very good actor and knows how to bring out your emotions. I love movies that leave you with a good feeling afterwards."

"Me too Harry," Hermione says as she snuggles closer to her husband.

The family enjoys the evening by slowly walking back to their home where Jeeves is waiting with hot chocolate. Harry and Hermione write out a letter of approval for Dr. Donaldson to go ahead with the hover boards and give their report on how the skaters did on the trials, along with the possibility for an endorsement from a professional skater. With the letter in the post for morning pick up the family sits around the television to watch a few episodes of the Dr. Who marathon that is running before going to bed. The rest of the holiday flies by and soon it is 1995 and time to return to school.

ooOOoo

Upon returning to school they discover Hagrid is nowhere to be seen and a new teacher is teaching Care of Magical Creatures. It is announced that Professor Grubbly-Plank is teaching the class while Hagrid takes a break to help out with the tournament. That was just a polite way of saying Hagrid had to resign his teaching position as it turns out that that reporter that tried to get Harry in a cupboard just couldn't resist trying to ruin another career by reporting he is a half giant and is not a pureblood wizard as everyone thought. Everyone knows giants are very mean and violent and no one wants a half-giant teaching their children despite Hagrid being the most kind and gentle hearted man at the school.

"That woman is just plain mean," Hermione says angrily as she reads the Daily Prophet at breakfast," I don't see how she sleeps at night. My conscience certainly wouldn't allow me to act like that."

"I agree Hermione," Harry says," We need to see what we can do about her. We need to catch her in the act. I'm not sure how she found out about Hagrid because I know for a fact he doesn't go about advertising it."

"She must have heard Hagrid and Olympe talking in the garden after the ball," Hermione says thinking out loud.

"I don't see how she could have been there," Harry says," We were the only ones near Hagrid and she had already left the grounds earlier in the evening when no one would talk to her."

"It is strange that she seemed to know the exact words of their conversation. She would have to have been sitting practically on top of them and us to hear it," Hermione agrees," We'll figure it out eventually. To change the subject, have you opened the egg yet Harry?"

"I actually didn't get around to it yet with the trip and everything," Harry shrugs his shoulders," we already know the task has something to do with the Merpeople in the lake."

"Well," Hermione says," I wouldn't hurt to at least go through the motions and see what the message says."

"True," Harry says," Lets head back to our quarters and open it under the water."

The couple returns to their quarters and enters the bath together with the egg to dunk it under the surface to listen to the message.

_Come seek us where our voices sound,_  
_We cannot sing above the ground,_  
_And while you're searching ponder this;_  
_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_  
_An hour long you'll have to look,_  
_And to recover what we took,_  
_But past an hour, the prospect's black,_  
_Too late it's gone, it won't come back._

(HP and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling)

"They have lovely singing voices," Hermione comments when they pull their heads from the water," Looks like you will have to rescue me from the lake. I don't think anyone would dive into the lake in February to retrieve a broom or any other possession. The water is way too cold for diving, let alone swimming."

"You're are probably right," Harry answers," at least for anyone but us or the merpeople who live there."

"At least this gives me a legitimate excuse to be down there watching over the other hostages," Hermione says," Make sure Grandpa gets permission to use the hostages for the other champions. Wizards and witches take magic for granted so much that I wonder sometimes if they have any common sense at all."

"I will and while you watch over the hostages I will watch over the champions. Miss. Delacour is a Veela, a creature of fire, with water being her weakness. Her powers will drain quickly and merpeople are Veela's natural enemy."

"This is not good," Hermione says," You watch over Fleur and I will watch over her hostage just in case it turns out to be her sister."

"Sounds like a plan," Harry says.

ooOOoo

The month of January flies by uneventfully and on February 14th Harry treats Hermione to a romantic candle light dinner in the room of requirement with dancing afterward. It's not long until the 24th approaches with the excitement building for the second task. The night before the task Sirius talks to Harry and Hermione about the Hermione needing to report to the headmaster's office.

"It's okay Harry," Hermione reassures him when he doesn't want to be without her for the night," I'll be back in a few minutes."

She follows Sirius up to the headmaster's office and has a seat in front of his desk.

"Hi Grandpa," Hermione says with a smile.

"I would guess you know why you are here," he says to her with trepidation. He didn't like it, but he had a part to play.

"Yes I do and there is no spell you can put on me to put me in stasis like you have done for the others." She says with steel in her eyes and authority in her voice," I know what my purpose is supposed to be for this task, but I **will** be sleeping with my husband tonight. We have never been separated since we were bonded and tonight is not going to change that. Also, mine and Harry's purpose for this task has changed since Fleur was picked as champion."

"What do you mean," Sirius asks?

"Fleur and her sister are Veelas," Hermione says," I will be guarding her sister while Harry guards Fleur while she is under water."

Professor Dumbledore's eye get wide when he hears that," I had forgotten that little fact."

"What's the problem Albus," Sirius asks?

"You must have forgotten your defense lessons on magical creatures," Albus says," Veelas are the natural enemy of the merpeople. It is in their nature to want to kill each other. While I'm sure Miss Delacour can control her urges in that regard, I'm not sure the merpeople will. They are not as civilized as we are. How will you guard her?"

"Harry and I do not need any protection to move under water or in outer space," she says," Our magic protects us by encasing us inside a shield with our own atmosphere to breath. We will be fine. I will take Gabriel with me in the morning at the appropriate time and watch over her. I don't know if the merpeople know who we are or not but I will do my best not to hurt any of them if they get aggressive."

"Very well," Albus says," Be here for seven in the morning to help take the hostages to their positions."

"I will be here Grandpa to help prepare them and transport them," she says," I can probably do it more efficiently and comfortably than you."

"See you in the morning then Hermione," Albus says with a sigh of resignation.

Hermione stands up and phases back to her quarters and into the arms of her husband. After a good snogging session to reassure him she wasn't going anywhere, they retire to their bed for the night.

"That was a close one Albus," Sirius says after Hermione phases out," I have never seen her lose her temper before."

"I have," Albus says," Back in her second year Hermione was trying to return Miss Clearwater to her dorm with when she was petrified by the basilisk. A few minutes later the basilisk lost its head after she lifted the entire sink assembly in Myrtles bathroom from the floor. It never stood a chance. Harry is the only one that can keep her in check when she gets like this. Better him than me."

"I agree," Sirius says," I've seen them fight with those swords of theirs and I am glad they are on our side. Well, good night Albus."

"Good night Sirius," Albus answers back.

ooOOoo

The next morning the pair is up at five am for their workout and morning meal.

"I will be guarding Gabriel for the task," Hermione says," Why don't you meet with Fleur to reassure her that her sister will be okay and that you will watch over her while she works her way through the task."

"Okay Hermione," Harry says," I will see you when the task is over."

Hermione meets the headmaster in his office at seven as planned and they secretly move the hostages into place for the task. The merpeople became agitated when they scented a Veela among the hostages and Hermione had to put up a shield to protect them from the merpeople who were swarming around Gabriel.

Up on the surface Harry informs the champions that Hermione is guarding their hostages from any and all harm and Fleur relaxes and gets ready for the whistle blow to start the task. The stands fill with spectators and students getting ready to watch the task on a giant monitor suspended in the air above the lake. Each contestant has a monitoring charm on them to show their progress through the task except for Harry who is not actually participating. He is there to make sure the merpeople don't try to sneak up on Fleur. Mr. Bagman is a little disappointed in this as he had placed bets on Harry winning the task. All of the champions line up on the pier and when the whistle blows dives into the frigid waters of the Black Lake. Cedric and Fleur use the bubble head charm while Victor transfigures the upper half of his body into that of a shark with gills to breath under water with. All three of them are surprised to see a blue glow around Harry as he swims alongside of Fleur as they get started. The real champions swim off in their own directions to find the merpeople village, leaving Harry to follow Fleur discreetly to keep an eye out for intruders. As she is fighting her way through the kelp field and the grindylows Harry has to fend off several merpeople who are trying to capture her. He uses a shield to keep them away without harming them and they eventually swim away, leaving her alone. She is unaware of what Harry is doing as she has her hands full with her own fight. She eventually wins her way through and they approach the village where the hostages are.

Back on shore the people in the stands watch as Fleur swims through the kelp forest and as she is swimming she feels a hand grasp her right ankle. She looks back and sees that a grindylow ( a magical being that looks like an octopus with a torso and head with arms and hands but has octopus tentacles for legs) has got hold of her, with more coming out of the depths. She aims her wand back and fires a cutting hex at it which causes it to let go. She then aims ahead and start cutting the kelp down to size like mowing grass with the heavy stalks falling on top of the grindylows and slowing their progress. She does this several times until she clears the forest. Cedric decided to take the high road and avoid the kelp forest altogether. He doesn't really come across any creatures but is having a hard time finding the village. No one knows where Krum went. All anyone can see is that everywhere he goes; fish and merpeople get out of his way as all they see is a shark coming at them and don't want to be shark food.

At the hostage area in the middle of the village more and more merpeople gather around, agitated that Hermione won't let them near the veela hostage with the chief brandishing his trident at her. She just hovers there with her arms crossed with a defiant look on her face. The first champion to arrive is Cedric and Hermione waves him through the shield to get to Cho. He swims to her and cuts her rope and swims towards the surface. The next Champion to show causes all of the merpeople to scatter as he approaches and spots his brother tethered to one of the posts he pauses and looks around for more merpeople to show them his ire but they have all gone. He cuts his brother loose with his sharp teeth and with the rope in the sharks mouth he swims to the surface. Fleur finally arrives at the center of the village and the merpeople swarm from everywhere trying to get to her. Harry rockets into the midst of them and starts to spin very vast, causing a whirlpool to start forming. The whirlpool starts pulling the merpeople into the vortex.

"Look there," someone shouts from the stands.

Everyone looks toward the center of the lake where the water is starting to swirl violently. Merpeople start floating to the surface stunned and exhausted as they swim out of the churning waters. Below the surface Fleur finally makes it over to her hostage and cuts her free with a quick severing charm and starts to the surface where she breaks free at last with Gabriel waking up and clinging to her sister as they climb up onto the pier glad that they are both finally out of the water.

Below, Hermione swims over to the spinning Harry and joins him as the couple slowly rises up the vortex to the surface in each other's arms, embraced in a kiss for a job well done. They rise up above the surface still spinning and after slowing to a stop they walk across the water towards the pier hand in hand. Everyone's eyes are glued on the couple as they appear to be walking on water. If they had bothered to look closer they would see a faint blue glow around them that is their trademark null gravity field that enables them to fly. Their clothes are not even wet.

With Cedric getting a full fifty points for coming in first within the time limit, Victor getting forty five points and Fleur getting thirty five points, the second task is over. Harry is awarded twenty five for participating and coming in last to the disappointment of Bagman. Everyone had been warned that he was only participating and not competing. If they want to lose their gold making foolish bets on him that was their problem. As they are walking back to the castle Hermione notices a water beetle clinging to the back of Harry's robe and goes to swat it away. As soon as her hand touches it she can feel the magic in the beetle as instead of swatting it she conjures a jar and quickly grabs the beetle and puts it in the jar. She puts the lid on and holds the jar up to her eyes where she can see the outline of fifties style glasses around the beetle's antennae.

"Hello Rita," Hermione says.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 54: Recruiting and getting ready for a conference**

"Harry," Hermione says holding up the jar," I'd like to introduce you to Rita Skeeter, the bimbo that tried to get you into that broom cupboard."

"Nice of you to join us Ms. Skeeter," Harry says with a grin," What should we do with her my Queen?"

"I'm not sure my King," Hermione says with a smirk at the now shaking Rita," I'll think of something."

She deposits the jar into her bag and the couple continues their walk up to the castle from the Black Lake. Harry and Hermione enter the Great Hall for lunch and as they sit at the Phoenix house table Harry's watch pings to let him know a call is incoming.

He lifts it up to look at it and hits the button to access the mirror phone and says," Hunter."

Agent Hamilton's face shows on the screen," the conference has been set up for March second. There will be diplomats from Russia and America, along with one from China and the Middle East. These four were voted in by the United Nations committee and approved by the whole assembly to speak for Planet Earth. The smaller nations will abide by whatever arrangements will be made as long as they can get the help they need for their countries."

"Very well," Harry says," Tell them we will pick them up from La Guardia Airport at the private terminal. We will be in our shuttle, which is more suitable for landing at an airport. It is about the same length as a seven thirty seven airliner and our call sign will be The Little Phoenix. They can expect us at two in the afternoon due to the five hour time differential between New York and London."

"Message received and understood," Hamilton replies," Good luck with your mission."

"Thank you," Harry answers back," Hunter out."

"Looks like we should contact who we want to go for the magical world," Hermione says.

"I thought we would take Mr. Delacour if you want," Harry says," We could represent England while he represents the International Confederation of Wizards."

"That sounds like a viable plan," Hermione says," Though everything we are doing is for the non-magical world in general, the ICW should know what is going on."

"This will affect them as well Hermione," Harry explains," We will eventually have to elect someone to represent the magical people of Earth in the world government when it gets organized. You and I have much broader responsibilities, so we will have to stay out of the day to day workings of the new government. We have to be available to handle galactic problems as they crop up, like meeting new peoples. I'm sure the Vulcans aren't the only non-humans nearby."

"I agree with you on that one Harry," Hermione says," You think Rita would like a new job?"

"What do you have in mind," Harry asks?

"Let's go to our quarters," Hermione says as she wipes her mouth with a napkin.

Harry does the same and the couple stands and leaves the Great Hall for their suite. Upon arrival Hermione brings the jar out of her bag and places it on the table. She sits at the table and lowers her face to be eye level with the beetle inside.

"Did you hear what we were discussing while we ate lunch?" She asks, "fly up to the top of the jar if you did."

The beetle flies to the top of the jar and then settles back on the bottom.

"Very good Rita," Hermione says," Harry and I are a bit upset at what you did to Hagrid. I'm going to let you out of the jar so you can talk to us and explain why you thought you had to do that. You will not be able to escape, so don't even try."

Hermione takes the lid off and the beetle flies up and transforms back into Rita Skeeter. She looks flustered and scared.

"I'm sorry your majesties," she says with a curtsy and then stands there shaking with nerves," I'm a gossip columnist and no one would talk to me at the ball. I overheard Hagrid and Madame Maxime talking and I just did what I always do. I wrote up an article about two half giants in love. I didn't even know Hagrid **was** one until he asked Madame Maxime about her heritage. She reacted offended about it and I thought it was a newsworthy item to print. The editor of the Prophet pays me to find stuff like this because he says it sells papers. He doesn't care how much I embellish my articles and even encourages me to make them even juicier to the gossip mongers that read the paper. All he cares about is making money for the paper. I think he gets a cut or something of the profits. I wish he would let me go after the after the truly news worthy stories as I have always wanted to be an investigative reporter and report on real issues instead of gossip. He doesn't know about my animagus form. I haven't told him as I'm afraid he would report me as I am unregistered. I thought being an animagus would allow me to investigate the stories I wanted without getting caught, but I'm afraid I'm too good at what I do for him to let me do what I really want to do. I …."

Hermione holds up her hand to get her to stop rambling.

"Okay Rita. I get where you are coming from," She says," you can relax; we are not going to report you to the DMLE. Harry and I actually have a proposal for you and your animagus form could come in handy in the future if you agree to our proposal."

Rita relaxes and the shaking calms down a little as she hears she is not in trouble.

"What can I do for your majesties," she asks?

"How much of our conversation did you hear and how much did you understand," Harry asks?

"I heard something about a conference and then something about a world government," she says," I know what a conference is and that you are going to ask Mr. Delacour, the French ambassador to England, to attend along with those people from other countries. The conference sounds very important. Are you going to take over the world?"

"No we are not going to take over the world," Harry says," We are starting the building blocks for a world government and before we can say any more we will need a witches oath from you that you will keep our secrets. What we need is a press secretary that can get press releases out to the non-magical as well as the magical newspapers around the world. There may be some times where your animagus form will come in handy to help us investigate complaints about issues that are being kept behind closed doors that could be a danger to the world as a whole. You would make the perfect spy once you are trained up a bit on how the non-magical world works. The spying part would only be related to your job. We aren't going to make you go into any place that is too dangerous for you. We would do that ourselves. Are you interested?"

"Would this be a full time position with a salary?" She asks," I'm just asking as I have to eat too."

"Yes it will be a full time position," Hermione says," You may not have a lot to do right away but we will keep you busy enough."

"There is one last question," Harry says.

"What would that be sire," she asks?

"Are you claustrophobic?" Harry asks," I assume you are not afraid of heights since you fly around in your animagus form."

"No sir, I'm not claustrophobic," Rita says," why do you ask? I am very interested in your proposal."

"This is where we need the witch's oath," Hermione says and hands her a parchment with the oath on it.

Rita reads the oath over and sees nothing unusual. It is basically a non-disclosure statement that she would keep the Potter's secrets and follow their orders. She gives her oath and Harry hands her an employment contract that causes her to raise her eyebrows as she reads it over, finding out what her salary will be. She signs it happily and hands it back to Harry.

"What are your first orders; sire," she asks?

"The first thing we want you to do is come with us and apologize to Hagrid for what you said in your article," Hermione says to her," the second is we want you to get a new wardrobe appropriate to your new status as our press secretary. You have to look well dressed for the non-magical world and **please** get some more conservative robes for the magical world. My mother will be able to help you with the non-magical dress as she is a doctor and very well off. She understands the current fashions and will love any excuse to go shopping."

Harry hands her a watch, ring and pin which she looks over, noticing the Phoenix logo on each.

"The watch has a communications mirror in it so we can keep in touch," Harry says," Put the ring on your right hand ring finger and the pin in the lapel of your business dress attire. Welcome to the Knights of the Round Table and the House of the Phoenix."

"I hope you don't mind being around non-magical technology, because that will be your life from now on," Hermione informs her," You will have a foot in both communities and also the galactic community as well."

"What does that mean," Rita asks," What's a galactic community?"

"You studied Astronomy at Hogwarts right," Harry asks?

"Yes, but it wasn't one of my best subjects," Rita says," I barely got an acceptable."

"Okay," Hermione says in her lecture mode," Since you got an acceptable, that means you at least understand the planets, right?"

Rita nods her understanding.

"All of those stars you see at night are part of the Milky Way galaxy," Hermione explains as she conjures a three dimensional representation of the galaxy," The planet we are on is about half way between the core and the outer rim of our galaxy."

She causes the image to shrink down to the solar system.

"The conference we were talking about is in a base on the Moon with an alien race called Vulcans," Harry says," We will be flying there after picking up the diplomats in our shuttle, which is parked in the Chamber of Secrets. The Vulcans home world is sixteen light years from here and we have the means to go there and visit them. They are going to help us build a large space station for constructing new ships to explore the galaxy with and to mine our solar system for the materials we will need to build the ships. There are probably other races of beings out there in our galaxy we haven't met yet. That is what we mean by galactic community. Hermione and I have DNA from another galaxy along with DNA from our parents here on Earth and that is the reason for a lot of the things we can do."

"Merlin," Rita whispers," You two are the Elders I have been hearing so much about. I knew you were King and Queen and that's why I was scared to death when you caught me earlier. I got too over confident that I could get back in the castle by hitching a ride on your robes."

"I wouldn't have caught you at all except I could feel your magic when I touched you to remove you from Harry's robes," Hermione explains," Anyone else would have just swatted you away. Now that you have given your oath and signed the contract to be our press secretary you will have quarters in the castle and will travel a lot with us. You, Rita, will become a household name in short order."

"I don't deserve this," she says with her head hanging," I've been such a horrible person with all of the stories I made up about people. Why are you doing this for me?"

"We have been considering you for a while now because of your writing skills," Harry says," We know you know how to write an article for a newspaper. You know how to put flair in your writing to make your articles interesting to read. We want you to use those skills to help us write up proposals for improvements to our planet and help us integrate the magical world with the non-magical world. We are already integrating magic into non-magical items through the use of runes that will run off the ambient magic in the world. There are lots of thing going on that will keep you very busy and happy for the rest of your life as a news reporter."

"Thank you your majesties," Rita says," Let's get started by making things right with Hagrid and Madame Maxime."

"It's Harry and Hermione," Harry says," When we are in private or with friends, call us by our names. When we are in the general public for business purposes; use our titles of Mr. and Mrs. Potter. When in formal diplomatic settings we are Mr. Harry and Mrs. Hermione Pendragon. You will know what to say depending on the situation. I'm sure your experience in government reporting will help you there. We are going to see Hagrid and he is a friend so you can address us as Harry and Hermione around him and Olympe."

"Oh no," Rita says," I will have to earn their friendship first and it will start with me asking forgiveness."

"You are learning," Hermione says," let's go see Hagrid. He has been holed up in his hut and won't come out."

"I think I can fix that if you will give me a Royal Order to make the Prophet print a truthful article about them to clear the air," Rita says.

"Let us review the article and if we approve, you will get your order," Hermione says.

The trio walks out of the castle and down the hill to Hagrid's hut where Harry knocks on the door.

"Hagrid," he yells," we know you are in there. Open up so we can talk to you."

They hear some shuffling around and a dog barking and the door opens a bit. It is obvious he has been drinking by his bloodshot eyes and unkempt hair.

"Harry, Hermione," he says in surprise, then spots Skeeter," Whad do you wan? Haven't you dun nuff damage a'ready?"

"I want to apologize for what I wrote about you and see if we can fix it," Rita says as she step up.

"How do you plan ta do tha," Hagrid asks?

"I no longer work for the Daily Prophet," she says," I work for Harry and Hermione now. They want me to be their press secretary. If you want, I can write an article about the real you so the people will know you aren't a bad person. I didn't know you were a half giant until the ball and everyone knows giants are mean and dangerous. We need to let everyone know you and Ms. Maxime are not dangerous and that you are nice people to be around. I will even let you and she read it before it is printed to get your approval. I need to do this for me as well as I need to prove I can write a good article and not the tripe I have been forced to write by the editor of the Prophet."

We will make sure it gets printed Hagrid," Hermione says," We know you are not a bad person and we will even make sure you get your mastery in Care of Magical Creatures so you can get your job back."

"Okay, come on in," Hagrid says," I'll make some tea."

The trio enter Hagrid's hut and he gives her his life story to set the record straight on what type of person he truly is. Madame Maxime joins them and tells her story as well.

"Thank you for your stories," Rita says as she shakes their hands," I will make sure they get printed so the people will know that you are an exceptional witch and wizard. These stories will prove not all giants and their kin are bad people."

The stories should prove your innocence in the Chamber incident Hagrid," Hermione says," you should be able to test for your mastery in Care of Magical Creatures soon and then you can take up teaching the class again."

"Thank ye Hermione," Hagrid says," I miss teaching the children."

"It won't be long Hagrid," Harry says as they leave his hut for the trip back to the castle.

"I better get that article written right away if we are going to the moon next week," Rita says as she hurries off to her new quarters to get started.

"She sure is enthusiastic," Hermione says to Harry," I think we made the right choice."

"With her charismatic personality and her nose for a story, I think she will do wonders for us as our press secretary," Harry agrees," She will be able to put a positive twist on any story we want to write about any new products we want to introduce to the mundane world and will help us break the news about our new interstellar neighbors."

"I can hardly wait," Hermione says," After our time in the Leggit galaxy, I can't wait till we establish our own little community in this galaxy. I'm sure the Vulcans have run across a few other species on other worlds we haven't met yet. Maybe they would be willing to share their knowledge, at least with you and me."

"I hope so Hermione," Harry says," I wouldn't mind doing a little exploring on our own this summer to see what's out there in our galaxy."

Hermione snuggles into Harry more as they walk back to their suite for the evening.

ooOOoo

The next morning Harry and Hermione approach Fleur at Ravenclaw table.

"Good morning Fleur," Hermione greets her," May we sit next to you?"

"Oui," she says as she stands up to greet the Potters," I very much enjoyed my trip in your space ship and thank you very much for allowing me to go."

"You're welcome Fleur," Harry says as they sit down to have breakfast with her.

"We wanted to ask you if you could contact your father for us and see if you might want to join us for another mission," Hermione says," And we also wanted to ask you what your plans are after you graduate this year."

"I'm not sure what I will do when I graduate yet. I was thinking of getting into the diplomatic corps so I could follow in my father's footsteps and I can easily contact him for you," she says," What do you want me to say to him?"

"We would like your **fathe**r to represent the magical community at the conference coming up," Harry says.

"Harry and I would like to hire **you** to be a part of our team," Hermione says," You would be technically working for Potter Industries, but you would really be our personal secretary; or assistant if you prefer. You would be like an executive assistant and go between us and the various businesses and governments of the world. We talked to Madame Maxime and she says you are her top student this year, so we know you are smart and with your personality, I don't think you will have any trouble doing the job."

"I will contact my father right away and your offer sounds inviting," She says," I will talk it over with him and I would love to meet the Vulcans again."

"We were hoping you would agree," Harry says," this will give you a chance to interact with other diplomats from the non-magical world and get some practical experience. Hermione and I have almost fifty years as Jedi Consular, so we will be there to help you if you need it."

"I had forgotten you said you had spent fifty years in another galaxy," she says thinking out loud," I will accept your offer after school is out for the year."

"Excellent," Harry says," we will provide you a place to stay and a good salary. If he accepts, please tell your father to be ready by the morning of the second. If he will floo here, it will save time and he should bring needs for a week's stay on the moon. The gravity inside the base will be a normal one gee, so everyone will be comfortable."

ooOOoo

On the evening of March first, Mr. Delacour floos to Hogwarts for the trip to the moon. After talking to his daughter about the Potter's offer and that he would be allowed to go as a delegate, he is anxious to meet the new neighbors. The morning of the second Mr. Delacour and his daughter Fleur sit at the Phoenix table having breakfast with the Potters when Albus walks up to him.

"Good morning Henri," Albus says.

"Good morning Albus," Henri replies as he stands up to shake his hand," I'm looking forward to this trip with my daughter. I'm actually going to the moon. Fleur has told me about her trip around the solar system and the trip to Vulcan. I can't wait to meet them."

"That is why I am here," Albus says," as the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, I am authorizing you to be our representative for the magical world. If the opportunity comes up, please feel free to see what you can negotiate for us from the Vulcans. You may invite them to visit Hogwarts and any of the other schools if you like. I feel the schools could benefit from the knowledge of other worldly races and cultures. Harry tells me they have an Elder on their High Council that has magic and carries a staff similar to theirs. That means magic is a part of their world, the same as it is ours."

Harry and Hermione stand up as well.

"That's true grandpa," Hermione says," they have magic like us. They are a race that uses logic to keep their emotions in check, but they are still a very well cultured people with music and philosophy as well as their high technological base. The Vulcans have been in space for over a thousand years and became interested in us when we started launching rockets and satellites. They abandoned the moon base when we landed on the moon in nineteen sixty nine as they didn't want to take a chance on contaminating our culture by being discovered by us. With the cold war going strong in the sixties, it wouldn't have been a good idea to get the attention of a paranoid world. Now, with Harry and I here and the things we have done, the general populous has come to accept that there are other worlds out there with people on them like us."

"If everyone is ready," Harry says," we can descend into the Chamber of Secrets to board the shuttle and we will get started. We have to Pick up our parents and stop at LaGuardia to pick up the UN delegates before traveling to the moon."

Harry and Hermione both give Grandpa Albus a hug and then lead the Delacours to the bathroom on the second floor. Harry hisses at the sinks to open and then hisses again to command the stairs to appear. The group descends into the chamber and passes through to the cave where the Little Phoenix is parked. After boarding the shuttle Harry and Hermione take the command chairs up front and power up the ship. They lift her up a meter or so to retract the landing struts and fly down the tunnel to exit from the old cave that Aragog used to live in. The centaurs wave as they pass and then after a short stop in London while cloaked to pick up the Grangers, the shuttle takes to the sky for the trip to New York.

Professor Moody slept through the whole thing as he had been up all night brewing more polyjuice potion for his disguise. Harry and Hermione were very aware of this as they had made sure his supplies were low to keep him in the dark about their activities and the students weren't talking to him about them either. Whenever he tried to get information to pass on to his master, the students just covered for the pair saying they were just average students that were boyfriend and girlfriend. Except for their immunity to the Imperious curse, they have given no reason for him to believe otherwise.

At the LaGuardia Airport private terminal a large crowd has gathered in anticipation of seeing the Elder's shuttle. The four delegates have their duffels ready and are waiting in the terminal building. As the clock strikes two in the afternoon the crowds hear from the speakers that were set up for the purpose.

"LaGuardia Tower," A female voice comes out," This is the Little Phoenix requesting permission to land. We are coming in on a vector of ninety degrees from north to keep out of your normal traffic pattern. We will land at the private terminal on the west end of the airport."

"We have you on radar and your approach is clear of traffic. Permission granted to land on the tarmac by the Marine terminal." The air traffic controller responds.

"Roger tower," she says," I have a visual on the designated landing zone. Touchdown in five."

Everyone looks up at the high pitched sound of the shuttle descending from high altitude very rapidly. The shuttle seems to break at the last minute and comes to a hover over her landing spot and settles gently on the ground. Everyone is in awe of the maroon shuttle with a white Phoenix painted on the main ring drive, which has a soft blue glow to it as it settles down. The pitch of the engines reduce to a low whine as a ramp lowers from the side of the ship facing the terminal building and two beings in maroon robes with aqua colored symbols along the edges walk down the ramp hand in hand. The group of delegates walks out of the terminal building to greet them with cameras flashing from reporters and the crowd. The beings bow to the delegates and lower their hoods to reveal their faces.

"They're just children," is heard from the crowd in astonishment.

Harry and Hermione walk up to the podium that was set up so they could give a statement to the press.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press," Hermione starts out," and to all of the viewers who are watching on your television sets. My husband and I are the Elders of the Universe and we may look like children, but we are in actuality in our mid-sixties in Earth years. Even though we were born here, we age differently than Earth humans. I'm sure you noticed the large red ship that arrived here some weeks ago. The ship is from a race of beings called Vulcans. They are the same ones that are in some of our entertainment venues just as Harry and I are also of the Jedi Consular order, complete with light sabers. As you may may know, most legends and fairy tales have some basis in fact. They are usually passed down through the generations from elder to younger, getting wilder and more exaggerated as time passes, so no one remembers what actually happened to start the legend. The Star wars movies are based on events that happened in the Leggit Galaxy a thousand years ago. The actual history is not nearly as exciting as the movies, but that is the way of the entertainment industry. Nobody would pay to see a movie without the good guys having to struggle to beat the bad guys. They are good at dramatizing stories and legends for entertainment purposes and even then, it is a good way to let everyone know about the legend of the war that took place so long ago. The heroes were real people that loved and lived as we do. As for the Vulcans and the Star Trek universe, we don't know if there are any Klingons or Romulans as we haven't met any yet. What we do know is there **are** Vulcans and we are going to negotiate with them to build a large space station in orbit and start trade relations with them. We hope to bring some of their technology to Earth so we can feed the hungry and help end the petty struggles brought on by terrorists. We have already started a colony on another world and hope to start more in the near future. Soon, you will see things like hovering wheel chairs for the paraplegic, floating stretchers for paramedics to use and similar technologies that have many uses around the world. With the meeting on the moon, we will take the first step into a larger universe."

"Show us your light saber," someone yells.

Harry and Hermione look at each other and smile.

"We will give a short demo and then we need to get going," Harry says.

Harry and Hermione walk out into an open area and pull out their light sabers and ignite them. With a snap-hiss the green beams of light extend from the handles and the couple takes positions for a short sparing match. Faster than the eye could follow the pair start swinging their sabers at each other and when their beams hit each other they make the snapping and electrical discharge sounds that became famous in the movies. After a few minutes of this they stop and bow to each other.

"Just to show you these are real and not a glass rod that glows, we will give you one more demo," Hermione says to the crowd.

She walks over to one of those concrete pillars with steel tubes around them to keep cars from driving into a building and with her saber slices right through it as if it were paper. She leaves it laying there to let people examine it so they would know the truth.

She turns to the delegates and says," Gentlemen, if you would board the shuttle, we have a meeting to get to."

The four delegates from the UN council follow the Elders into the shuttle and get settled in for the ride. The ramp retracts into the shuttle and the engines wind up to the high pitch noise that they make inside an atmosphere.

"LaGuardia tower," Hermione says," The Little Phoenix is ready to depart."

"Roger little Phoenix, you are clear for departure on the same heading as your approach. Have a good flight."

"Roger tower," she says," departing now."

The engines increase in pitch as the ship rises vertically and rockets into the sky, soon to be lost to all but radar as it ascends to the moon.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 55: An Historic Conference**

The Potters board the shuttle after their passenger's and one of them asks as he sits down in his designated seat:

"How long will it take to get to the Moon?"

"And where are the seat belts," one of the others asks?

"About thirty minutes," Hermione answers as she passes him, she then turns to the other," They are not needed. The shuttle has inertial dampeners and artificial gravity. You won't feel a thing when we take off."

Her and Harry proceed to the front and seat themselves in the pilot seats, where they prep the ship for take-off. The boarding ramp retracts into the ship and the door slides shut from the right side. The noise from the engines is dampened to a soft whine as they idle.

Harry nods at her that he is ready and Hermione touches a pad on the comm panel.

"LaGuardia tower," Hermione says," The Little Phoenix is ready to depart."

"Roger little Phoenix, you are clear for departure on the same heading as your approach. Have a good flight."

"Roger tower," she says," departing now."

With a touch of a pad on Harry's panel the engines wind up for the thrust into space and the shuttle lifts off the ground with a blue shield snapping into place around her. A touch from Hermione retracts the landing pads and another touch from Harry sends the ship to just under mach one in less than a second as she rises through the atmosphere. He keeps her under mach one, which actually increases as the air thins, and as soon as the ship leaves the atmosphere into space he enters the coordinates for the moon base into the navigational computer. The ship quickly becomes a small dot on the radar as it speeds to its destination.

The couple gets up from their seats and walks back to the passenger area.

"Feel free to get up and move about the cabin," Harry says," It will be about thirty minutes till we get there. We kept the speed slow to give you time to acclimate to the idea of being in space."

"The fresher is behind that door there," Hermione says pointing towards the aft wall of the cabin," There is juice, coffee and tea available if you want it."

"How fast are we going?" the American ambassador asks," It took us three days to get to the moon back in the sixties."

"Well," Hermione explains," Speed outside an atmosphere is a relative term. The top sub-light speed for this shuttle and all intersystem craft is one quarter the speed of light. Any faster and time dilation comes into play. At the top speed of our fusion engines, which we call impulse speed, we could travel from the Earth to the moon in about four seconds. That's a bit impractical as human response time is slower than that. We are traveling at 0.0028 impulse speed right now which is 477,799.8 miles per hour. So you see why I say speed is relative in space. We have a scientist in our employ that has developed a null gravity field for low powered hover capabilities. She is working on developing fusion power for us and when she gets there we will allow her to publish her findings so the rest of the world can catch up. With fusion power you can propel a space ship like this one to Pluto in two to four days, depending on where the planet is in its orbit."

"Are we going to be allowed to have ships like this one or your other ship," he asks?

"Eventually," Hermione answers," It depends on what we accomplish at the conference."

When the ambassador starts to protest she holds up her hand.

"You wouldn't give a child a loaded gun would you," she asks?

When he shakes his head no she continues," We are training a crew of astronauts how to fly the Phoenix, but they don't understand the technology behind the ship yet. They will likely be the ones to fly the first interstellar ship that is built by humans from Earth. The scientists on the ground will be the ones to figure out how to make the technology work. A full complement for a ship like ours would be from forty to a hundred souls, depending on the mission. We could give you a ship similar to ours but you wouldn't have the knowledge it takes to build it at current technology levels. Harry and I, as Elders, have provided the building blocks for Earths scientific community to develop the technology and understand it as they go. What the Vulcans will do is provide a sort of shuttle service to collect materials and will help train crews for the ships that are built in our own shipyards for working in space. What Earth can provide in trade is what you and the other ambassadors are here for. Just like you wouldn't give a loaded gun to a child until that child grows to understand the responsibilities that go with it, we can't just outright give technology to Earth without the basic understanding on how it works. Who knows, we might get there sooner than you think. In the meantime we will work towards a world government and making life for the general populous of Earth easier."

"Thank you for that explanation Elder," the ambassador says, while the others who had been listening nod in agreement," I feel we can move forward now. I agree with the loaded gun analogy. We are getting there, but we aren't quite ready yet."

As they finish talking a beeping sound comes from the comm station, so Harry and Hermione return to their seats.

"Luna one," Hermione answers the signal," go ahead."

"Message from Ambassador T'Pau," the speakers emit," Greetings to the Ambassadors from Earth. We are looking forward to meeting with you and have great hope for the conference to benefit both our peoples."

The American ambassador comes to the front.

"May I," he asks?

Hermione touches a pad on her console and gestures for him to talk.

"To Ambassador T'Pau of Vulcan:" he responds," Greetings from the ambassadors of the planet Earth. We represent the United Nations of Earth and are authorized to speak for the planet as a whole. We too have great hope for this conference and look forward meeting with you to the benefits of both our peoples."

"Message received and appreciated," the voice says.

A different voice comes on," We have you on our scanners and you are clear to enter the airlock upon arrival."

"Understood Luna one," Hermione answers," we will be there in five minutes."

"Acknowledged."

The comm cuts off and the American ambassador says," Short and sweet."

"The Vulcans are a race that thrives on logic," Harry comments," Keep that in mind and you should have no problems with them."

As the passengers look out the front windows they can see the moon rapidly swelling as they approach. Harry takes the ship around to the back side where there is a series of lights showing the approach to the airlock. He slows the shuttle down and hovers in front of the doors as they slide into the ground. Once they are open enough he maneuvers the shuttle into the airlock where the outside doors close up again. Air can be heard entering the airlock and when the hissing sound dies down the inner doors open allowing Harry to guide the shuttle to the designated landing pad where a party of dignitaries is waiting. The ambassadors are surprised at just how large the interior of the base is as they can see several shuttles similar to the one they are on and other types of ships as well.

"What are those," one of the ambassadors asks, pointing out some smaller ships?

"Those are called work bees," Hermione explains," They are the ships that are used in the construction of larger ships like the T'kyr. They are easy to maneuver and can do all sorts of jobs while keeping the operator safe and secure. These ships are local only for construction and had to be brought in from Vulcan on the T'kyr. This is one of the things we will talk about during the conference."

Harry settles the shuttle on the landing pad and hits the control pad for the boarding ramp to lower. The Potters lead the group of ambassadors and their parents down the ramp to greet the ambassador from Vulcan and her group of advisors. The Vulcans all raise their eyebrows when they spot Winky, along with Dippy and Tippy Potter following the group down the ramp. Everyone proceeds to the conference room to get started.

The two groups enter a conference room with a long table with chairs on both sides for the delegates. Harry and Hermione sit across from Ambassador T'Pau of Vulcan, a relatively young Vulcan female of sixty years who was trained specifically for contact with Earth if it ever came about in her lifetime.

Harry starts the conference with introductions.

"Greetings ambassador T'Pau," he starts," welcome to Earth's planetary system which we call the solar system after our star which we named Sol. Let us start out with introductions to get things started."

"Four of the ambassadors represent the four major industrial areas of our planet and the fifth represents the mages." Hermione takes over," On our left is the representative from the Arabic league of Nations, Mr. Hashim Khouri. Next to him is the Chinese ambassador, Mr. Chu Wong."

"On our right is the American ambassador, Tom Jeffreys and next to him is the Russian ambassador Serge Antonov," Harry continues," The next person, Mr. Henri DeLacour, is the representative from the International Confederation of Wizards, which governs the magical population of Earth, and his daughter Fleur. The other two are our parents, Dr. George Granger and Dr. Helen Granger who is also a mage."

Hermione continues," Harry and I are the Elders of the Universe and are here to bring Earth's technology up to par with the rest of the universe. **Originally**, the plan was to bring Earth into the Intergalactic Community of Planets as we thought this galaxy would be like the other twenty eight we have colonized so far and only have humans in it."

"We have since discovered that in the Leggit galaxy, which we saved from extinction by going back in time a thousand years, that there **are** non-human races in our universe." Harry says," Then in **this** galaxy we discovered that we have close neighbors in **your** people when we found this base quite by accident while exploring the solar system. The fact that there are non-human species living quite close to Earth will allow us to develop our own community of planets with mutual trading of technologies at first and then in the future as we discover other races, we can expand and colonize planets in the local area."

"The Milky Way, which is our name for this galaxy, is already being colonized by the Intergalactic Community of planets," Hermione takes over," It will take them a couple of hundred years to reach our area of the galaxy, so we have plenty of time to explore and colonize our own planets. We would like to become partners with Vulcan on this endeavor and also warn other species we might run across about the colonization from other galaxies. When we finally do meet up with them we will be ready to trade with them and live in peaceful coexistence."

The Vulcan delegate and her advisors were listening and turning their heads back and forth between the two like watching a pendulum swing.

"You two integrate very well together in your speaking patterns," Ambassador T'Pau comments, looking at Harry since he seems to be the next one to destined to speak," I have never seen such before. I am also curious as to who the three beings are standing behind you. The only difference between them and us seems to be the color of their hair and skin. They look like Vulcans did in the far past."

"I'll defer this answer to my wife as it is her passion," Harry says.

Hermione looks over at him and reaches out to take his hand in hers," In order to understand us I would like to bring up a similarity between Harry and I with Vulcans. I have read in your histories that you have a ritual called mind melding?"

T'Pau nods affirmative, wondering where this is going and what mind melding, which is very intimate to a Vulcan, has to do with their speech patterns.

"Well, from what I have read," Hermione continues," mind melding is very intimate and personal to a Vulcan and is not performed very often because it is an invasion of privacy and not to be taken lightly. I also read that when a Vulcan finds their life mate they do bond together to the point that they at least are aware of each other at all times."

At T'Pau's nod she continues," The reason we speak so well together is we are bonded. We are two halves of a whole. Think of Harry and my relationship as being mind melded at all hours of the day and night. We can talk to each other in our heads and there can be no secrets between us. We are also so in love with each other we wouldn't have it any other way. It has been that way for us for the last fifty seven years. As for the beings behind us, they are called elves. They are magical beings that have a symbiotic relationship with mages. They have a need to bond with us to keep their magic and to stay alive. They love to work and in return they provide services to the mages such as keeping house and cooking. They refuse to take payment for their services, stating that feeding off our magic is enough. They used to be cursed as slaves but my Harry found a way to break the curse so Harry and I adopted them as part of our family. Winky here is the queen of their race, which is the reason she is taller than the other two, and since I am the queen of the English magical commonwealth, she wanted to bond with me. Tippy and Dippy are the first two elves we bonded with and they will always be special to us. They are the reason we were able to break the curse."

The elves in question flushed green with embarrassment at being mentioned in such a high profile manor.

T'Pau looks at the Potter's with a look of contemplation on her face as she absorbs the information she has been given. She nods her head in acceptance and then proceeds with the meeting.

"Thank you Elders for starting us off on a good foundation," she pauses and then continues," I am T'Pau of Vulcan. I was trained by the Elders of Mt. Seleya for this mission. We received a prophecy that you would come to us and we were to help you in your task on Earth. We have been observing your planet for many years, waiting and watching your people develop into what you have become today. It is obvious that by abandoning our base here we missed the last thirty years and now find you have a permanent space station in low orbit of your planet, have landed on the moon several times and have machines on your fourth planet. You have come a long way and are closer to a world government now than any time in your history. I have full authority to assist you in achieving your goal Elders. We brought with us some small ships for construction work and mining of the planets and asteroids for materials. We will assist in building a larger space station where ships can be built in a safe environment and we will help your planet by showing you methods of growing crops more efficiently to feed your population. We have scanned large open areas of the largest continent in the northern hemisphere and a large island in the southern hemisphere that have no significant population that can be converted to viable farm land using our methods."

Ambassador Antonov raises his hand," The two areas you mentioned for farming is in Russia, which is my home country and Australia which is an American ally. Those areas are mostly desolate and only the hardy live there. If you can convert them into farm land I think that would be very acceptable to everyone. What would you want in trade for that technology?"

"I don't know if you noticed when you were there Elders," T'Pau answers," our planet is closer to our star than yours is. Our climate is hotter and dryer than your own. While we have seas, they are shallow and barely sustain our people in drinking water and are slowly drying up. We would like to trade for water."

"You would do all of that for just water," The American ambassador asks?

"We would also need to train personnel to fly the construction ships as we can't bring enough Vulcans here to do all of the work." She answers.

"I don't think that will be a problem," Ambassador Khouri answers," flying is one of my passions and I know any pilot would jump at the chance to fly one of those ships. Will they land on the planet?"

"Yes, they can be made to land on a planet and will fly inside an atmosphere," she answers," They have anti-gravity drives and artificial internal gravity, along with inertial dampeners to counter the g forces in flight. They are very versatile craft. They have to be in order to mine planets for raw materials for replication."

"I think that, more than anything else will get the people of Earth to accept Vulcans as neighbors and friends," Ambassador Wong says smiling," Flying is my passion as well. We have a lot of young men that would volunteer for this work."

"I agree," Ambassador Jeffreys says," America probably has pilots in every small town and city in the country. I don't think you brought enough ships to cover the number of volunteers that will sign up for this."

"Volunteering won't be necessary," Harry interjects," they will all be paid handsomely for their time and training. We expect to reap large rewards for the ores that are mined in our solar system. Earths economy is based on industry, so everyone will benefit from the mining and make a profit to boot. This is the boost we need to get the planet to come together for a common goal, for the benefit of all."

"I think all we need to do now is work out all of the fine details," Hermione says," Our press secretary will release statements to the news outlets around the world and we will place ads in the papers for people willing to work in space. In our ads we will call the construction ships work bees after an insect we have on our planet called honey bees. They have a queen and worker bees that gather pollen to make honey which they feed on. Only our work bees will be gathering ores for manufacturing more work bees and other ships, along with things needed on the planet itself. We are a very industrious people and this will also create more jobs. This really is the boon this planet needs to get out of the stagnation caused by over population. With the technology Harry and I have given to Vulcan we can start colonizing planets in our immediate stellar area."

"This summer," Harry continues," Hermione and I are going to start exploring the stars in our neighborhood to see what is there and meet any peoples we can find. We can also start setting up subspace communication stations and probes to monitor other stars and allows us to communicate in real time with any colony we want to start up."

"Will we be able to send scientists along," Ambassador Antonov asks?

"Yes," Hermione answers," The Phoenix will house about two hundred people now that it has two decks in the saucer section and we can configure the ship to accommodate any equipment they might want to bring. Since the Vulcans have been in space in this section of the galaxy for a long time I would advise including a team of advisors from there so we don't encroach on someone else's territory."

"That would be advisable," T'Pau says," we have met a few species in our travels and some of them can be aggressive."

"The Phoenix will be safe enough from them," Harry says matter-of-factly," If they have a legitimate claim to a star we are exploring we will let them be."

And so the conference continued on for a week as all of the details were hashed out. It was decided to use area 51 in Nevada to train the work bee pilots. It was sufficiently far away from populated areas and the facilities were already there for housing the pilots in training. The Vulcans would set up bases in Siberia and the interior of Australia for the farming projects. The railroad companies will find their business increasing as facilities for receiving ore from space will need to be built and tracks laid to take to ore to the smelters. Old mills would be retooled and started up again to handle the ore influx as the planet transitions into a source for interstellar trade with other planets. The list goes on for plans to bring Earth into the interstellar community. With everyone satisfied with the outcome, the delegates all get ready for the trip back to Earth, each with a packet to bring before their governments and the newly formed United Nations Central Committee for Interstellar Relations, of which the five ambassadors are now part of.

"Little Phoenix to Luna One," Hermione says into the comm," Ready to depart."

"You are clear for departure Little Phoenix," Luna One control comes back," Good journey back to Earth and we look forward to getting started on the projects."

"We do too Luna One," Hermione responds," Departing now."

"Acknowledged."

Harry lifts the shuttle and flies her into the airlock which is now equipped with the force field to keep the air in as the doors open on both ends at the same time to allow him to fly through without stopping. As soon as he clears the airlock Harry accelerates the ship for the trip to Earth and sets the computer for another thirty minute trip. Harry and Hermione leave their front seats and come back to sit with the passengers.

"What did you think of the Vulcans," Hermione asks the group?

"Frankly, I thought they were like a breath of fresh air," Ambassador Jeffreys says," I like their no nonsense way of negotiating. Straight forward and honest."

"Hermione and I have discovered by observing others that not telling the truth always comes back to bite you in the rear," Harry says," We cannot lie due to our natures and we don't think the Vulcans can either."

"Well," Ambassador Khouri says," It certainly helped in the negotiations, knowing exactly where we stood with them."

"Yes," Ambassador Wong agrees," We all got what we wanted in exchange for their technology in creating fresh water from seawater. This will help my people to irrigate our lands better for higher crop yield; allowing us to feed our growing population."

"And we get to make something out of Siberia besides a wasteland," Ambassador Antonov adds.

"Even us magicals got something," Ambassador Delacour says," With our knowledge of runes and our magic, we can make the ships safer and more efficient."

Hermione looks over at Fleur and asks," What about you Fleur? What did you think of the conference?"

Fleur sits up straighter and answers," Of course I met Commander Soren on our trip to Vulcan and I liked him then. I think the Vulcans will be easy to work with and I am looking forward to working for you majesties."

"And we are glad to have you on board Fleur," Harry says as he reaches over to squeeze her hand in appreciation.

After a few more minutes of idle conversation the panel on the front of the ship beeps to let Harry and Hermione know it is time to take over the controls for landing back at La Guardia Airport. The pair seats themselves and Hermione activates the comm panel as Harry steers the shuttle towards Metropolis.

"La Guardia Tower," she says," This is the Little Phoenix on approach requesting permission to land."

"Little Phoenix, this is La Guardia tower," the comm speaker emits," What vector will you be coming in on? You are not on radar."

"We are coming straight down vertically above the coordinates of our last landing spot," Hermione answers," If you look up you will see us shortly. We are not crossing any flight patterns in our trajectory and will be there in less than five."

"Very well Little Phoenix," the tower controller says," You are clear for a vertical vector for the west end of the airport."

"Entering atmosphere now," Hermione says," Little Phoenix out."

Everyone that knew they were scheduled to land today were crowding around a roped off area fifty meters in diameter near the Marine terminal waiting and watching. At the sound of the speakers everyone looks up as they hear the high pitched engines of the shuttle. They spot a small spec in the sky that is very rapidly growing larger by the second. The shuttle descends at just under mach one and suddenly come to a stop about a hundred feet above the tarmac where Harry sets it down very gently on its lowered landing struts. The blue shield around the ship snaps off and the side door opens with a landing ramp lowering to the tarmac. The crowd cheers loudly as the four diplomats walk down the ramp, where the American ambassador walks up to a microphone that was set up for them to speak to the onlookers and reporters. He waves at them to quiet down and then gives a statement.

"My fellow Earthlings," he starts off to a chuckle from the crowd," As you know, we just got back from a conference with some real live aliens from another planet. They call their race Vulcans and they are the nicest and easiest to get along with people I have ever met. We were successful in our endeavors and will soon have more crops to feed the peoples of Earth. We will be placing an ad in all of the newspapers soon for pilots to train to fly work ships to mine the planets and asteroids of our solar system for the raw materials we need to build a much larger and more functional space station as the first step in colonizing other planets. Yes, soon we will be able to allow others that are not satisfied with their life on Earth the opportunity to start anew elsewhere. This will be an equal opportunity undertaking for everyone, so people of the Earth, start preparing and training for colonization. Keep watching the news channels and the newspapers for more information. It will be slow at first as we train our first pilots, and build the new space station and ships, but will accelerate quickly from there. For the young people of Earth, study hard in school and go to college to get degrees in whatever your interest is. We will need all fields of study for the new colonies to survive and thrive. With space travel now opening up for us you will still be able to visit family here if you decide to move to another planet, so no need to fear losing touch or giving up family. Again, if you are a pilot and would like to try your hand at working in outer space, the Vulcans brought a number of shuttles and construction ships called work bees with them from Vulcan to start building the station and are willing to train you how to use them. You will be well compensated and as you start doing the job you are trained for, you will hailed as heroes as your work will bring a lot of new jobs all over the planet as the ores are brought in for processing and refining. I can't say enough to tell you that we are in for some very prosperous times ahead with new jobs and new disciplines due to being able to take advantage of the resources available to us in space. Watch the newspapers and channels in the next few weeks for more information on how you can get involved. Thank you for listening. We need to report to the UN Council, so have a good day everyone. I know I will."

The crowd cheers and the cameras flash as pictures are taken of the four diplomats that made history this day. The ramp is pulled back into the shuttle and the door closes as the engines wind up for departure. The shuttle lifts off for the flight back to England and soon it is lost to view.

AN: This chapter was hard to write as I wasn't sure how to do a diplomatic meeting. I hope I pulled it off okay.


End file.
